Burning
by amycakes
Summary: Elijah makes Damon's dark side burn white hot and Damon hates it. Delijah
1. Ignite

New story! :) I don't know how long this is going to be but I've been dying to write Delijah since before Klaus even appeared and Klefan took over my life. So without further ado...

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything TBH.

Warnings: Future slashiness, 3x12 onwards spoilers.

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><p><em>Ignite<br>_

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><p>He was hesitating – for once in his life. Damon Salvatore didn't hesitate right? So why couldn't he just go through with his own damn plan and pull the stupid dagger out already?<p>

They were on the clock. He only had so much time before Klaus would be here. He'd moved that one special coffin sure but that wasn't good enough. Klaus was going to get his hands on all four and then most of their advantage would be gone.

This had stopped being about getting rid of Klaus the minute he had joined Stefan. Regardless of what he may have told his little brother this was always going to be about revenge. He was Damon Salvatore and he hadn't changed.

Stefan thought he had. Stefan thought he'd gone soft. That he _cared_ too much about Elena to be of any use to him anymore. But he was wrong. Nothing had changed since a hundred and fifty years ago. He may have been in love with Elena but he used to love Katherine as well and as much as it pained him to say it, it was all the same – it all _felt_ the same. History was just repeating itself.

He was Damon Salvatore and he always had a diabolical plan up his sleeve. He wasn't the good guy and he really didn't give a shit who got hurt because of him...for the most part anyway. So why the hell was his hand still hovering hesitantly over the dagger in Elijah's chest cavity.

_Just rip it out_.

It was a rhetorical wonder of course – he knew exactly why he was hesitating, but he certainly didn't want to admit it to himself. He wasn't Stefan, it's not like he went home every night and spilled all his worldly experiences and his every thought out onto paper to keep track of it all. No, he just bottled everything up and kept it locked away tightly where no one would ever see – not even himself.

But this was clawing it's way to the forefront of his mind and he couldn't control it anymore. He didn't want to wake up Elijah. He really didn't. Elijah...changed him. The original vampire had an effect on him that he couldn't control and Damon _hated_ it. He hated not being in control of himself. Katherine had done it to him, _Elena_ had done it to him – why in the world would he wake up someone else that pulled that gut reaction out of him?

Granted they all did it in different ways, but they all made him _feel_ something. Do something different. Want things that he never would have before.

And that was really the crux of the issue wasn't it? Elijah made him want things. Made him want to _be_ different. There was a spark in Damon that was ignited whenever someone challenged him. It was the spark that fuelled all of his diabolical plans, all of his perfect revenge plots and Elijah? Elijah set him alight.

When he was around Elijah he didn't just feel a competitive spark coming to life, or a churning ember – he was already burning. It wasn't a good thing in Damon's book and it wouldn't be in anyone else's either if they knew what that meant for him. It made him want to be..._bad_.

The first time he really spoke with the original was at the Historical Society Tea Party which, like all events in Mystic Falls was at the Lockwood's. When they had first begun to banter it had brought out the dark side of him that had been getting a little bored since he'd ripped out Mason Lockwood's heart, so naturally he'd jumped at the chance of a war with words.

As they had begun to circle each other his heart had begun to race. He had taken a moment then to be thankful that he'd recently fed because otherwise at the speed his chest was thumping around blood his veins would have soon been rubbing against each other like sandpaper.

They were taking turns at trying to figure the other out, push them into slipping up and making them reveal more than they should but neither would take the bait and that just made Damon all the more eager. His competitive nature had definitely been an enhanced trait when he was changed.

When the original had tried to quickly end the conversation and make his leave though Damon had acted without thinking, he'd launched himself in front of him, blocking the doorway before he even knew what he was doing himself.

He couldn't forget the fact that when Elijah had gripped him by the throat and thrown him up against the wall his still racing heart had practically leapt out of his mouth and not in fear. The prospect of facing down the original excited him like nothing else. He was supposedly one of the strongest vampires to ever exist and damn it if that didn't get Damon's blood running hot.

When Elijah breaks his wrist it dawns on him that yeah, he's bitten off more than he can chew for sure. But would he change it? No way. Elijah had sneered down at him, "You young vampires, so arrogant. How dare you come in here and challenge me?" Damon couldn't help but let out a grin even as the hand on his neck tightened and he could feel his spine beginning to splinter.

Besides wondering exactly _how_ old the guy must be in the first place, the arrogance and the confidence it was delivered with mirrored Damon completely and he _liked_ it. He was burning to rise to the challenge - to tear the older vampire's grip away and show him exactly why he dared. But he couldn't – he simply wasn't strong enough and that made him _furious_.

He loved the fight, he would rise to the challenge but most of all...he liked _winning_. He usually did. But with Elijah, he wasn't even sure if that possibility was even in the ball park.

Elijah is silent at his grin and Damon swears his head almost tilts to the side as he studies him. He would also swear that he saw a flash of the same spark light up the other vampire's eyes, burning just like his at the prospect of a good challenge.

He re-thinks that however when the original drives a pencil through his jugular. Hazily, in the back of his mind he's laughing about how ironic it is because he's sure he's seen this in a movie somewhere. He's still itching to hold his ground even though he's knows his chances of ever winning this battle are slim to none as he leans back and grasps at his bleeding throat.

When Elijah leans forward, offering him a tissue for the wound he accepts that he's lost. The hands are gripping at his sides and he can't help but reach up and tighten his in an expensive blazer all the while inwardly cursing himself.

"I'm an original. Show a little respect."

Elijah: 1, Damon: 0. And the score on his side would probably remain the same for a very long time.

Still that injury is laughed off compared to when he wakes up chained in some torture device in his own damn house – at the mercy of werewolves no less. He talks shit back to them, taking a stab at Jules about how he killed her wolfy boyfriend Mason the same way but on the inside his composure is slipping and short of a miracle like Stefan coming home from the lake house early (which definitely wasn't going to happen) he didn't know how the hell he was going to get out of this one.

They keep asking for the moonstone and he keeps deflecting. They keep literally _yanking his chain_ and he keeps screaming, biting clean through his lower lip. He isn't going to tell them shit but unfortunately he wasn't getting out of this chair either.

When Elijah cut in, "looking for this?" in all his elegant original glory Damon wouldn't deny letting out a sigh (more like a gasp) of relief. He was surprised yes, and he had stared a second in wonderment before he regained his cocky facade.

He offers them the moonstone and Damon would smirk if he had the energy and even though he had a smug inkling as to what was about to happen, nothing could have prepared him for the explosion that was Elijah. Three werewolves down in seconds, their hearts completely torn out and dropped to the floor like trash.

He kills the last offender and then removes the chains around Damon's wrists, freeing him from the contraption before stating with a subtle air of arrogance, "you realise this is the third time I've saved your life now?"

That kills him too; the fact that he wants to hate Elijah – he's an arrogant prick and all things considered their personalities clash horribly. But he can't – because the damn original kept pulling shit like this. It wouldn't be the last time he saved him either.

Long after the original had left, Damon had been glued to the same spot, staring ahead unseeing still locked on the image of Elijah standing across from him, two arms out, dripping with blood and gore having just ripped his attacker's hearts out.

That image haunted him for weeks after that. And damn if it didn't make his dark side _want_ so much more.

There were so many reasons he was relieved when Elijah was finally firmly daggered. He made Damon want horrible things. To do things that he didn't need to. He made him want things and Damon hated it. He was still on zero weeks later, never able to win a battle of wills or otherwise against the original and it irritated him to no end.

Any time the vampire was around Damon's dark side burned white hot and it had to end, so he was glad that while not disposed of, Elijah was out of the way until they had further use for him – or Klaus did in any case.

And now here he was, hand hovering over the dagger, hesitating for his own selfish reasons, his chest clenching and his brain refusing to let him think about the people of Mystic Falls and about Elena and all the other reasons that he _needed_ to wake the original vampire up.

While his mind may have been in conflict though his body was on autopilot and when his sensitive ears picked up the sound of leaves crunching outside under heavy boots his instinctual reaction was the grip and _pull_. And he did.

He stared at the dagger clutched in his hand for a moment before slamming the lid down on the coffin and swinging back around, preparing to face the hybrid, Klaus.

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><p>Continue? Or not? YN? :)


	2. Simmer

I sat down to write Delijah and then Dalaric came spewing out and I was like damn. So then I updated Dalaric then finally the Delijah came around :')

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything TBH.

Warnings: A bit of language?

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><p><em>Simmer<br>_

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><p>Damon's stomach is churning when he wakes up the next morning and no matter how many blood bags he's consumed it just won't let up. He's nervous.<p>

Damon Salvatore doesn't get fucking nervous.

Except he is and he can't stop running over all the possible outcomes of the next few hours. His meeting with Elijah – Elijah doesn't show, Elijah's already told Klaus and they kill him, He ends up so entranced with _Elijah_ that he can't form comprehensible words...

He groans as he exits the boarding house and makes his way out into the sunlight. Why did he want to do this again? Oh yeah, to fix his idiot brother's messes and save his ass because whether he would admit it or not, Stefan was in too deep and he just couldn't win against Klaus.

He conveniently ignored the voice in his head whispering that he would have liked to wake Elijah up anyway. Nope, not gonna listen.

He was grateful when Elena called, her easy conversation pushing him back into his comfort zone because though he would deny it later as he got out of his car his heart was racing like a pre-teen before their first high school dance. Why was this making him such a schmuck?

"So you're the prime suspect huh?" He laughs. Only Elena could be framed for murder, of all the people in Mystic Falls trouble was certainly drawn to her.

"She doesn't think that I did it," Elena replies, "she's just trying to find out why somebody used one of _my_ family's weapons to kill a council member."

Damon rolls his eyes then because to be honest they all know there's something just not right with Meredith Fell and Alaric is definitely getting way too close, way too fast. "Well why don't you just ask Ric if his dirty little doctor had access to the weapons?"

He smirks to himself at that before he hears Alaric snip back loud and clear, "you're on speaker phone dick!" Now he just feels bashful, a little annoyed though too that Ric refuses to see the evidence all points to her. Come on, join the dots.

"I'm just saying, first suspect's usually the right one, don't get so defensive." His jaw ticks but he keeps his voice relaxed knowing it won't do any good to get Ric wound up, he was annoyed enough already that everyone kept doubting his new girlfriend's intentions. Really though, they were all just trying to keep Ric from ending up like her last boyfriend...

He sighs as Elena shoots down his logical conclusion that Meredith killed Brian. He understands what she's doing though, god knows Alaric's had a terrible run with relationships, it would be great for something to work out for him, but this one just wasn't going to, he could smell an evil bitch from a mile away.

If not though..."It was Klaus, had to be." That was the only other explanation.

Elena hesitates before suggesting to the two of them, "what if it was Stefan? He was crazy that night-"

"No." Damon cuts her off, quick to defend his little brother. "It wasn't Stefan."

Elena seems offended that he cut her down that quickly and shoots back, "he was crazy that night Damon! He was trying to piss off Klaus, he was capable of anything!"

Damon's lips thinned. "I know my brother Elena, it wasn't him." He stops his walk through the field, a little startled by Elena's fierce determination to believe it was Stefan. Why? Stefan had never given any indication he'd care to kill a worthless human and her line of reasoning made no sense – why would Klaus give a crap that a human medical examiner died? No, Meredith Fell was a much more logical conclusion.

At that he looked up, opening his mouth in preparation to tell Elena to stop being an idiot where things concerned Stefan and open her eyes, but the words died on his lips. Ten feet away in a dashing, well cut suit and all his elegant glory was Elijah, one hand in his pocket, studying Damon as he spoke.

Something about him was different than the last time he was 'alive'. The hair maybe? He didn't know but whatever it was he liked it.

"Look, I gotta go." He muttered into the phone, preparing to hang up when Ric called out to him quickly.

"Wait! Where are you?"

Damon made sure to keep his voice neutral as he replied. "Tea with an old friend." He hadn't told anyone else his plan of waking up the original and no one besides himself and obviously Klaus knew at the moment, he figured it was better to keep it under wraps, at least until he'd seen the vampire and judged whether or not he would take their side or whether Damon had in fact made a colossal mistake.

Elena was calling out for him to wait but he simply flipped the phone shut. That in itself made him feel out of sorts. Since when would he ever hang up on Elena? Since yesterday, obviously.

"Elijah." He greets, walking forward smoothly and turning on the charm. After the note he left (that he'd been stewing over all night) he decided to take the cocky approach to the whole situation, put himself a little more in his comfort zone and _not_, under _any_ circumstances let Elijah take control of the situation.

"My favourite original!" He crows, smirking. It's so definitely not a lie either. "Back from the dead." And god was he praying that wasn't a bad decision.

It wasn't even the fact that he was afraid Elijah would go 'dark-side', it was more the fear that he'd take Damon with him. Willingly.

"You clean up nice," he complimented, smirking again when the original remained silent. Damon gave him a proper look up and down at that, not only for show but also because he'd been _dying_ to do so since the vampire had first appeared and now he had a chance to do so without giving himself away.

"You left something in my jacket pocket." Elijah says blandly, pulling out the paper note and Damon feels like wincing but maintains his composure. Would it hurt the original to show some emotion? Maybe give him an idea of where exactly he stood after his little letter?

His heart began beating faster, fight or flight syndrome kicking in as he anticipated the worst. "Dear Elijah," he mutters, repeating the letter to himself, "let's get together about the destruction of your brother." He finally looks back up to meet the original's eyes because despite the fact that he's lost his smirk, he's Damon Salvatore damn it and he faces his shit head on.

"Ex oh, ex oh..."

"Damon." Elijah finished and Damon's eyes nearly flicker shut. He will vehemently deny it later but that slightest hint of accent and the tone of voice...

He sees the older vampires eyes flicker with amusement and wants to snarl at himself for even _thinking_ about such things. "Was I right to un-dagger you?" He continues coldly, "or are we gonna have a problem?"

God he sure hoped not because there was no way they'd be able to put him down again.

Elijah shrugs easily, "I'm here, let's talk."

It's almost becoming too casual and Damon has to force himself not to relax, to keep his cool and for god's sake keep his shit together. Now was not the time to be companionable, who knew what his real intentions were.

"I'll start with an easy question...any idea what kind of Klaus-killing weapon would be sealed in a mystery coffin?"

Elijah smiles at him slowly. "No. My turn. Why is Klaus intent on destroying your brother?"

Damon frowns at the fast turn around but smirks a little, deciding to fall back on humour to put himself at ease. "Nothing much, a little lovers spat."

Elijah looks over at him. "How long has that been going on?"

Damon studies him calculatingly before replying, "Stefan left with Klaus, they came back together a few months later, killed his dad," Elijah raises an eyebrow at that but motions for him to continue, "then my baby brother had the brilliant idea of getting revenge on Klaus," he waves his own hand at that, "_long_ story. So Stefan stole you and your family in the coffins and it's been a little civil war ever since."

Elijah muses over this for a minute before replying, "Klaus asked me to help him destroy Stefan, he seemed terribly distraught."

Damon frowns. "Yeah, the thing is, I don't think Stefan really wants to fight him either, it's some kind of weird little game between them."

Elijah smirked darkly and Damon took a step back, suddenly realising how comfortable he'd become in the conversation, falling into step with Elijah as they walked.

"So. Why me Damon?" Elijah stepped closer then and Damon tensed, holding his ground out of stubbornness but wanting to put some space between them because of the heat that had ignited in his chest. Unfortunately Elijah only took another step closer. "You could have woke up the others." He whispered softly, "or even all of us, but you only un-daggered me." He took another step, bringing them nose to nose. "So why just me?"

Damon drew in a shaky breath, his eyes darting to the side as he lost his composure under the heavy stare of the original. "Like I said," he spat out hastily, "you're my favourite original." He tried to smirk but it might have come out as a grimace, he wasn't really sure.

Elijah only smiled at him knowingly before taking a step back as if nothing had happened, as if he couldn't hear Damon's heart trying to break it's way out of his chest due to their proximity.

"So, are you going to help me, or not?" Damon figured it was way passed his turn to ask a question and he needed some time to get his heart rate back down and put some distance between the two of him, to banish the ridiculous need he had to throw himself across the two feet separating them and sink his fangs into the original's supple neck. That train of thought only brought on vivid images of Elijah's reaction should it be how he wished it to go and he had to cut that off before he became a tomato.

"Klaus promised me my family."

Damon snorted angrily, shaking his head. "He's promised you that before." _Pick me._

"What can you offer me?" The original raised an eyebrow in reply and sent a smirk his way. Damon's brow furrowed into a dark glare. The bastard knew the effect he was having on him and he was exploiting the fact. The statement was double-layered and Damon knew exactly what Elijah was implying and damn it if he didn't want to agree.

"I pulled the dagger out of you chest. You already owe me." He settled on, crossing his arms and ignoring the previous implication entirely. Unfortunately for him it seemed Elijah wasn't ready to change to subject and within seconds he was in front of Damon, a mere foot away and a finger was trailing it's way down his pale cheek.

Crystal eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. "Yes and how can I thank you for that, _Damon_." Damon nearly choked on air at that, remaining stock still, eyes like saucers.

"Um..." Composure completely blown he actually stuttered before pulling himself together. Deciding there was no way he could save face he simply took a step back and a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again Elijah was smiling at him and he growled, wanting to punch the damn original's face in for manipulating him like that. The way he made him feel, how the blood boiled in his veins, it reminded him too much of Katherine and they all knew how _that_ had went. One hundred and fifty years of his life wasted on a lost cause and heartbreak.

He turned on his heel then and began to walk away. If Elijah really wanted to play on their team, he'd come and find him. Until then he really didn't care about the fate of Mystic Falls as long as he wasn't here making a fool out of himself.

"Damon." Elijah called out and he stopped in his tracks against his will. "How about dinner?" Damon's eyes just about bug out of his head and he snaps around to face the brunette, jaw hanging open.

"What?"

Elijah smirked. "You heard me. Let's have dinner. You, me, Stefan and Niklaus." He raised an eyebrow. "We can discuss this like adults."

Damon gaped. "You're serious?"

Elijah levelled him with what was definitely a 'serious' look. "Deadly." He looked down before adding quietly, "I want my family back, Damon."

Damon sighed. He knew the feeling. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly before putting on a cheeky smile, "it's a date." He then walked away without looking back and this time he met no resistance.

He decided to head back to the boarding house instead of checking in with Elena – he had a double date to convince Stefan to go on and he wasn't taking no for an answer. If he even tried Damon would use brute force because he sure as hell wasn't missing this date.

"Get dressed," he commented as Stefan walked out of the bathroom in just his jeans. "We're going out."

Stefan looked at him humorously and threw back offhandedly, "yeah, sorry, not interested."

Damon glared at his little brother icily. "I didn't ask. Elijah and I have organised a little couples counselling for you and Klaus."

Stefan turned around slowly, glaring at him. "Fuck off Damon. Whatever plan you have up your sleeve I'm not interested."

He grinned at that. "You're always into my plans Stefan. And we're going to negotiate a deal."

Stefan stared at him blankly. "Klaus will never take a deal, Damon."

Damon laughed at the know it all tone. "Well, you know him best Stef..." He trailed off with a smirk. "But relax, all we're doing is buying a little time."

Stefan frowned at him. A century and a half apart still couldn't keep Stefan from being able to read him like an open book. The only consolation was it went both ways. "What is this really about Damon?"

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "I told you, we're buying a little time to give our wicked witches a chance to pop the top on the mystery coffin."

"So that's your plan?" Stefan played along, "stall Klaus?"

"No, _you're_ going to stall Klaus, Stefan. I'm going to eat, drink and be merry." He looked at his brother pointedly, sending a subtle dig that he thought this little spat between him and Klaus was nothing more than a game.

"Oh am I? I'm going to stall Klaus, try and keep his mind off things while you've unleashed an original to help him out?" Stefan shook his head at him while pulling on his shirt and Damon pouted.

"Un-daggering Elijah was smart."

Stefan smirked at him through the mirror. "And now we get to the real issue."

Damon spluttered, an raising both eyebrows and throwing his arms up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He crowed.

"You just want to...get chummy...with Elijah." Stefan straightened his collar and sent a dark smirk his way. "How does Elena feel about that?"

Damon snarled, "come on Stefan, we all know you're dying now you're seperated from your 'bro' Klaus." He raised his fingers in air quotes. "So shut up and get dressed. _We're going._" He resisted the insane urge to invoke elder rights, feeling enough like a chastised child already. Totally caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He was satisfied when Stefan got the vibe of his order and reluctantly toed on his shoes, pouting all the while.

Now to find his best shirt...

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><p><strong>AN: ** Mmm I still don't know. I fear my Damon isn't consistent, he's more difficult to write than Stefan/Alaric. What do you think? Continue/Can it? :|


	3. Kindle

Okay, so I think everyone got the gist that I really wasn't happy with my last chapter. So we'll see how this one goes and if not, we might have to look at..._termination_...

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything TBH.

Warnings: A bit of language?

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><p><em>Kindle<br>_

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><p>Damon shuffled down the basement stairs, pulling a few blood bags out of the cold box and carrying them back upstairs to where Stefan waited in the kitchen.<p>

"Here," he said throwing him two. "Drink up."

Stefan raised an eyebrow cockily and Damon wished for once his brother would drop the act. He never thought he'd say this but he missed Stefan with feelings. "Why are we eating when we're just about to go to dinner?" The youngest Salvatore smirked. "Klaus knows my tastes."

Damon rolled his eyes. "We don't need to be caught off guard Stefan, I want everything to go smoothly tonight."

They had to be totally prepared for whatever the originals would throw at them tonight. He knew from his earlier meeting with Elijah that the older vampire was well aware that he had at least _some kind_ of effect on Damon. He'd been testing the waters by invading his personal space, touching him, doing anything to throw him off guard.

He was really hoping he was just being paranoid but the way he saw it, Elijah was feeling out how big of a chance he had of manipulating Damon. He clearly had his own agenda (and Damon would bet money it was getting his family back at all costs) and he didn't care who he had to stab in the back to do it.

He'd have to be very careful he wasn't just falling naively into a very well-played trap. If Elijah had a good enough perception of him to anticipate his moves already then they could be in a lot of trouble. Of course, he could just be being paranoid and everything would go well – exactly as planned, but since when was lady luck ever nice to the Salvatore brothers?

"Do you really think Elijah is going to be able to influence Klaus into making a deal?"

Damon looked up to meet his brother' eyes, trying not to appear sheepish. "Actually no, I was hoping he'd betray him and help us get ahead...somehow." Yeah, he really hadn't thought this through but what was he supposed to do? Just give Klaus back all the coffins, all his siblings still daggered and let him win another round? No way!

"So you have a plan?" Stefan asked, slurping up the last of his second blood bag noisily. Damon winced at that, Stefan was such a messy eater, always had been.

"No," He spat out, sensing the accusation in Stefan's tone. "He suggested dinner." He admitted reluctantly, crossing his arms and scowling.

"So you screwed up?" Stefan clarified. "He's not actually taking our side at all."

Damon growled at that statement. "He wants his family back Stefan and he thinks through manipulation he can use _us_ to get it." His mind was clicking over, trying to come up with a fast plan to defend his actions.

"So what are we gonna do?" Stefan cut in sarcastically, eyebrow raised.

Damon shook his head, a smirk appearing on his face. They were going to do what he always did. Just because it was Elijah and not someone like vampire barbie didn't mean that he couldn't use his same signature tactics to get what they wanted. "We're gonna use _that _to manipulate _him_, hopefully without him being any the wiser."

Elijah wanted his family back badly – it was his weakness, his Achilles heel. All they had to do was exploit it.

Stefan still looked sceptical. "Do you really think you can fool Elijah?"

That was the only pitfall to his plan, though he hated to admit it and on a crucial night like tonight it probably wouldn't be best to lie to his backup so Damon answered honestly, "Nope." He popped the 'p' on his lips, smiling sardonically. "But we're going to try."

He drained the last of his own blood bag and tossed it in the trash, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve just in case, even though he knew he was a neat drinker. Stefan placed his hands on his hips, looking across at his older brother. "Ok then. Let's do this."

Damon couldn't shake the feeling as they left the house and made their way towards Klaus' new humble abode that Stefan was planning something. He could practically _see_ the wheels turning in his head and he knew that if he asked Stefan would never tell. He'd just have to pray that whatever he had up his sleeve worked in their favour and didn't completely and utterly screw everything up.

Hey he had faith in his brother! Most of the time...but lately he was being a little bitch (he tried to drive Elena off a bridge!) so a little scepticism was warranted. The fact that he wasn't going to say anything though didn't stop him from sending a million sideways glances as they drove.

It is Elijah that opens the door when they get there surprisingly enough and Damon wonders what exactly he had to do to convince Klaus this was a good idea. Maybe they both had a plan of their own and all of his and Stefan's hard work with the coffin would go down the shitter.

He hoped not, but even so Bonnie had sent him a text message earlier – they were close. Really close. She thought they'd be able to crack the mystery coffin open sometime tonight if all went well so regardless of whether Elijah betrayed them, a backup plan was already in motion.

"Niklaus! Our guests have arrived!" He yells over his shoulder in a mock-pleasant voice and Damon smirks. If the originals were going to play the polite card so would they. He looked Elijah up and down as if he would know at first glance where his loyalties lie, unfortunately all it did was make a _little_ infatuation flare up. Just a little – because Damon could admit it when he saw something he liked. He liked exquisite things,_ rare_ things, the only difference in this case was that he usually _got_ what he wanted.

They stepped through the foyer of the large house and out into the dining area, spotting a table set for four and Klaus looming behind it along with a few scantily dressed girls, obviously intended for dessert.

"Damon. Stefan." He waves a hand. "Elijah tells me you seek an audience – very bold." He has to resist the urge to roll his eyes at this. Klaus and his theatrics – and Stefan's just as bad, did he seriously think Damon couldn't _see_ him rolling his eyes over there? So much for his best behaviour. "Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilised men shall we?"

He moved forward, intending to get a move on with this charade, almost groaning out loud when Stefan stayed in the same position, arms folded over his chest. This was _not_ the time for a little grudge match. What the hell was going on between them anyway? For some reason he didn't believe this whole dilemma was over the fact that Klaus compelled him and he lost Elena. Ok, well maybe a little but Damon had fully expected Stefan to go straight back to Elena as soon as he was free of Klaus, yet he hadn't…why?

Something had happened between them that had changed things and Damon wanted to know what. It was like Stefan's world no longer orbited around Elena, he was more interested in…Klaus?

"It's better to indulge him." Elijah commented and Damon's head snapped back to the brunette original, taking in the heavy gaze that while he spoke to Stefan, was resting on Damon alone.

Stefan swaggers over to Klaus then commenting softly, "I didn't come here to eat Klaus. In fact, I didn't want to come here at all." Damon resists the urge to groan and slap his hand over his face. What the hell Stefan? He knew they weren't here to _actually_ make a treaty – just to feel out the opposition and pretend to make one. "But I was told I had to," he turns around to raise an eyebrow sarcastically at Damon then, "because you would…hear us out."

Klaus begins to speak then, moving to take the seat at the centre of the table. "Well we can sit and eat," he begins darkly, "or, I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides." He smirks. "The choice is yours."

Damon gulps then, looking to Stefan and praying he wasn't about to do something monumentally stupid. Silently Stefan made his way to his seat and Damon breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, following suit. That was close.

He glances around himself as they all begin the pretence of eating an average human dinner, old friends just catching up with a good old fashioned roast. He can't help but glance up after every bite thinking that any minute now Klaus is going to launch across the table and tear his throat out.

"Lost your appetite?" He looks up to find Klaus staring Stefan down across the table and as Stefan replies with a challenging shrug he decides it's time to intervene. "Eat." He orders, glaring darkly at his little brother. "I thought we agreed to leave the grumpy Stefan at home?" It's sarcastic but through grit teeth – a clear warning – _Play nice or else_.

As Stefan reluctantly picks up his knife and fork and Klaus comments humorously, "that's the spirit." Damon looks down, closing his eyes. Crisis averted…for now. Unfortunately Klaus will just continue pushing until someone snaps and he's pretty sure already it's going to be Stefan.

"Isn't this nice?" The hybrid begins pleasantly. "The four of us dining together? Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger out of my brother?"

He shoots a furtive glance Elijah's way before opening his mouth. "Well, he knew how I felt about you so I thought, you know, the more the merrier." He shoots Elijah a wink across the table at that and takes careful notice of the way the older vampire's lip moves out, as if holding in a smile. Gotcha.

Now he just had to do what he did best. Push.

He smiled saucily in the original's direction, ignoring the table's other two occupants completely. Elijah merely tilted his head with a smile – _I know what you're doing_ – before turning to face Stefan and ask, "and where is the lovely Elena tonight?" Damn it.

"Stefan shrugged, his voice acidic, "I dunno. Ask Damon."

Elijah turned his gaze back at that settling with a curious but amused look and Klaus choked on laughter, hiding his face behind his hand.

"Sorry, sorry, you missed so much." He says sarcastically, waving a hand. "Uh, trouble in paradise."

Elijah looks back and forth between the two of them now, seemingly summing up the situation in his mind and Damon groans mentally – that just made his job so much harder and to make matters worse it didn't exactly put Stefan in the best mood either.

"One more word about Elena…and this dinner is over." Stefan threatens moodily, glaring at Klaus across the dinner table.

"You know," Damon cuts in, once again trying to diffuse the situation between the two, "probably best to keep Elena in the 'do not discuss' pile."

"You're probably right…it's just, the allure of the Petrova doppelganger – still so strong." Stefan looks down at his plate at this and Damon can see the hurt shining in his eyes. Whatever's happened between them, some part of Stefan will always consider Klaus his friend and that part of him has categorised this as a low blow from the hybrid.

Damon clenches his fist under the table.

"What do you say brother? Shall we tell them about Tatia?" As soon as the words have left his mouth Damon puts the pieces together – the original version of Elena, of Katherine. Klaus and Elijah had known her…had loved her.

He watches in amazement as Elijah falters. "Now why should we…discuss matters long since resolved?" He laughs shakily as he tries to change the topic but Klaus is having none of it and Damon finds the usually composed Elijah's crumbling façade fascinating…and a little disturbing for some reason.

"Well," Klaus waves his arm towards the Salvatore's, "given our guest's shared affection for both Elena and Katherine I thought they might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line."

Klaus looks like he's having a ball and Damon sends a furtive glance Stefan's way just to make sure he's not going to lose it any minute now. His hands are clenched tightly under his chin but other than that he's keeping his cool and Damon turns his gaze back to Elijah.

What's bothering him is how unsettled the topic of conversation has made the original. He was wound up, agitated. It was as if Klaus were about to pour salt in an open wound and that made Damon curiously annoyed.

Not at Klaus though, at Elijah. He could admit to the small flicker of jealousy that rose up within him at that. Obviously Tatia was very important to Elijah – a woman that after a thousand years he still hadn't managed to get over. If there was one thing Damon hated more than not getting what he wanted – it was the fact that someone else was getting it instead.

Conveniently ignoring the parallels his mind started to draw between Elijah and himself, Tatia and Katherine, he gave into the small spark of jealousy and turned with a smirk, drawling out, "we're not going anywhere Elijah." He raises his glass in a sarcastic salute. "Please, do tell."

Klaus looks over then, apparently distracted from his tale. "Am I missing something?" He looks between them, a small smile on his lips and it's Stefan's turn to send Damon a warning glance.

"Of course not, what is there to miss?" That was a spiteful dig too but it alleviated the flames licking at his chest cavity just enough to make it worth it. He also registered somewhere in his mind that he was walking a fine line between cocky douche bag and making a fool out of himself but he was finding it hard to care.

"Do go on," he motioned imperiously, almost commanding Elijah to continue his narrative and receiving a sharp look in return.

"When our family first settled here there was a girl named Tatia. She was an exquisite beauty. Every boy of age desired to be her suitor, even though she'd had a child by another man." Elijah spat out the details quickly, trying to pull off as if the story disinterested him but fooling none at the table to his agony of reliving it.

It was so different to the Elijah he was used to, much like a fish out of water and Damon found that instead of amusing him now, it just made him uncomfortable.

Elijah turned then to face his brother and the Salvatores looked between them expectantly. "And none loved her more than Niklaus." He finished even though it wasn't a secret to those at the table that he himself fit into the equation somewhere.

"Oh, come now." Klaus began sardonically. "I'd say there was one other who loved her just as much." He sent a look in his brother's direction and Damon could already tell that this was an exact replica of what he'd lived in 1864. Or 1864 was a replica of it…maybe it was a curse.

Stefan choked on his laughter then, bringing up his hands to point at the two originals. "Wait a minute, so you both loved the same girl." Damon doesn't know why Stefan finds it so hilarious, then again, he hadn't exactly been on the loosing end of it when they were in the same situation. Katherine had loved _him_.

Elijah looks down at the table for a moment before powering on with the story, the fact that he didn't shoot Stefan down with an insult immediately telling Damon he was more affected than he was going to show. "Our mother was a very powerful witch. She sought to end our feud with Tatia and so she took her." Elijah took a weary breath. "Klaus and I would later learn that it was Tatia's blood that we consumed with the wine on the night our mother cast the spell which turned us into vampires." Damon could barely contain himself from gaping. No way.

And Elijah still loved his mother?

"Tatia wouldn't make a decision between the two of us, so for a time Niklaus and I became estranged." He continued, looking to his brother. "Harsh words were traded and we even came to blows…didn't we?"

Klaus smiled. "But in the end we recognised the sacred bond of family."

Elijah turned and raised his drink to the blonde. "Family above all." As their glasses clinked together Damon knew he had been right, Elijah's small smile with that statement proved it - he would side with whoever was willing to give his family back. Whether that meant them or Klaus though he still didn't know.

He looked up to meet the original's eyes but was startled by an abrupt outburst from his brother beside him.

"Yeah about that," He tilted his head mockingly at Elijah and Klaus, "family above all?" Let's cut straight to the chase." He smirked and Damon went rigid. He was attempting to secure Elijah's allegiance and so far it looked to be working, he could work with this. Klaus was none the wiser of their prior meeting or so he thought and everything was going swimmingly! The _last_ thing they needed right now was Stefan going off the reservation.

"Alright Stefan," Klaus leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you want then?"

Damon glared across at his brother. "Yeah Stefan," he grunted out, "what is it that you want?"

A clear _shut the fuck up right now_.

Stefan stared at the hybrid blankly, putting on his best poker face. "A straight swap. I give you the mystery coffin, you give me Rebekah."

Damon gaped. What the fu-. Damon was angry at himself for not picking up on this before, for misreading his little brother completely. How could he have possibly missed this? Stefan wanted Rebekah? Blonde, homicidal, cheerleader Rebekah?

This changed everything. Somehow the original vampire barbie meant something to Stefan. Stefan _loved_ her! He must – it was the only explanation. He chose her over a chance at defeating Klaus, over protecting Elena, over everything else that actually mattered.

Jesus.

How was he so blind to this?

"That's funny Stefan, I would have thought you would ask for Elena's safety."

Damon is nodding furiously beside him at Klaus' statement and decides to just throw it out there. "Yeah, we want that too." He shoots his brother a look that says 'how could you _not_ have asked for that?' and receives only a bored look in return.

Klaus steps forward and in response the rest of the table's occupants stand, taking up respective positions away from each other.

"You really must love her, Stefan!" Klaus spits out furiously, finally losing his pleasant façade. "Honestly, if you wanted Rebekah why not just wake her up earlier?"

As Klaus stalks closer to his brother Damon makes to edge in front of him but is stopped by a hand with a vice like grip on his wrist pulling him backwards. Elijah. He is sent a look that says 'don't interfere' and sneers back. That's his baby brother over there.

"I would have thought that would have been obvious Klaus. Leverage." Stefan takes another step forward until he's in Klaus' face. "For revenge on you."

Klaus hisses, lunging forward to take Stefan by the throat, holding him a foot above the air, choking him. Damon feels a sting of fear rise in his chest and goes to jump forward, envisioning his brother's head torn clean off his body but is pulled back and restrained.

"Fuck off." He growls up at Elijah, veins appearing rapidly below his eyes, fangs descending.

"Do not get involved." The original orders calmly, raising an eyebrow and Damon snarls. He throws his arm back elbowing the older vampire in the gut and is rewarded with only a wince, no loosening of his grip and he growls, tearing at the arms encasing him knowing that if there wasn't a suit jacket protecting skin, bloody trails would be left behind.

He is aware then of Klaus snarling at Stefan. "You will never have Rebekah!" Before throwing him down and the brunette skids across the floor.

Stefan is on his feet within moments and for a second Damon finds himself scared not for his brother but of him – this was the ripper. "Then I guess we're fucking done here!" And with that he storms from the room.

Damon is vaguely aware of Elijah releasing him as his brain tries to compute what just happened. Stefan wants Rebekah. Rebekah of all people. Where did this even come from?

"Let me deal with it." Elijah straightens his suit, making to go after Stefan. "I trust you two can _try _and come to a suitable agreement?" And with that he is gone and Damon is left alone with Klaus.

The hybrid looks uptight and Damon is hesitant to even move. He's cocky yes but tonight he's not feeling too confident – between the two of them with no outside interference he can't go up against Klaus and win and as much as he hated to admit it to himself, Elijah was kind of his safety blanket – the nice original.

Klaus looks over to him then and waves him over, pulling one of the silent, scantily clad girls to him. "Care for a drink?" He brushes a hand over a pale neck and Damon frowns but moves forward anyway, taking the girl and sinking his fangs into her neck.

He looks up at Klaus for a moment before pulling away from the girl completely. "Did you know? About Stefan and Rebekah?"

Klaus gives him a hard look but sighs and answers anyway. "They were together in the twenties. Until he left with me he didn't have his memories of her, that's why you knew nothing about it – because he didn't either until very recently." The blonde raises an eyebrow. "That's what you wanted to know right?"

He's right. Damon's completely thrown and a little disappointed by the fact that his brother was in love with someone and he didn't know anything about it – not even have a suspicion. And it hurt more than he'd like to admit that Klaus knew all the while. Klaus!

He's disgruntled and it shows. "You know," he begins, looking over to Klaus who has started drinking from a girl himself. "For a while there I thought you and Stefan might have been…you know."

Klaus raises an eyebrow and grins at that but says nothing.

"You have this weird vibe." Damon continues, wondering whether he's digging his own grave here and praying for Elijah to return and save him. "Why won't you make a deal? I don't honestly think you want to fight each other."

Damon's rarely so open and honest with words and he winces as he feels all of it about to be shot back in his face. He's surprised however when Klaus turns to him with an earnest expression.

"Stefan was...is...the brother I never had. The one who looked up to me. The one who cared about me regardless of what I'd done. He never resented me like my half-siblings did and I'd thought that he'd never betray me." A small smile appeared on his face as he spoke but disappeared as quickly as it came.

"But now he wants to destroy me." He looks up at Damon, eyes hardening. "He's left me no choice."

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><p><strong>AN:** To be continued...or not?

I'm thinking this one went better, so maybe a yes. Thoughts?

Plus, Stebekah - who saw that one coming? ;)


	4. Charred

Okay, so I really wasn't going to do klefan at all, because I thought it was a bit unrealistic to add that in but I've been stewing over it for a week and thought, fuck it. They're my OTP and it's my fic I'll do what I want with it. _Sorrrry! :)_

Also thanks so much to my fave anons Katerina, Jill, Di & Tony. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything TBH.

Warnings: A bit of language?

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><p><em>Charred<br>_

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><p>Damon actually feels bad for the hybrid, his stomach sinking as he takes in the hurt in Klaus' eyes that he tries to smother but doesn't manage it quick enough. Damon knew what it was like to have family hate you. His own father hated his guts…Stefan was the only one who didn't treat him terribly after his mother died…until Katherine…and then Stefan betrayed him too.<p>

It didn't matter how unintentional it was, it still happened and he felt a connection with Klaus because of it. He was telling himself how much of a bad idea it was to sympathise with the hybrid when Elijah and Stefan returned to the room.

"Alright," Stefan says cockily, "It's time for you to put something on the table."

Klaus' entire demeanor changes as Stefan re-enters the room and Damon eyes him suspiciously. Something about the way the hybrid's so affected by his little brother _screams_ that there's something more to this. He brushes it off though, he can't be wondering about it now. He needs to focus, regardless of the few seconds connection he'd felt with the other vampire, Klaus was still the enemy and they were attempting to destroy him.

The blonde smiles at Stefan then and Damon knows he's going to play the game. "Alright then Stefan. Rebekah…for Elena."

Damon sends Stefan a warning look though he knows his brother wouldn't stoop low enough to agree to that. While he wasn't _in_ love with Elena anymore obviously he must still love here somewhere deep down inside – that kind of love doesn't just go away.

"Nope." Stefan replies and Damon watches Elijah move to stand behind his own brother and his heart drops. Is he reading too much into the symbolism here or is Elijah actually going to side with Klaus?

"I give you the coffin," Stefan offers, "and you leave Mystic Falls forever, leaving Rebekah here with me."

Klaus smiles at that too. "Come on Stefan, you don't really expect me to believe you truly only want Rebekah. You've had her this whole time and never cared before."

Stefan glared back across the room, gritting his teeth. "Yes or no Klaus?"

Damon's phone buzzes in his pocket and while Klaus is occupied with Stefan he pulls it out surreptitiously reading the message. _Getting closer. Need more time._ That's nice Bonnie but they didn't have more time here, kind of working on a tight schedule!

He slipped it back into his pocket, looking up to find Elijah's deep brown eyes piercing into his. Crap. He tilted his head, eyes narrowing on the original and wondering for the hundredth time that night who's side he was actually on. He'd find out soon enough though, the coiling anticipation in his stomach was telling him that the nights events were all about to come to a head.

He tuned back into Stefan and Klaus' latest little argument just in time to hear Klaus finish with, "the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is the two of you."

He frowns then, a voice in the back of his mind telling him that he should be yelling in protest, doing something to prove that it's not true, but he can't – because he knows it is. Elena would be much better off if he and Stefan had never returned to Mystic Falls.

If they weren't so selfish they would have compelled her by now to forget and run off and have a nice little life with Matt Donovan. But they weren't like that, they were vampires, they were selfish creatures….they were fools taking any little scrap she'd throw them. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

Their life here was too set in stone.

Stefan is glaring at Klaus, the two standing toe to toe and Damon fears that without intervention they might just go at each other's throats so he steps forward to enter the fray.  
>"Look, how about Elena gives you a few pints and you give us Rebekah and leave town?" He was trying to give the hybrid something he wanted but they really didn't have much to bargain with. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "And your mystery coffin, you can have that back too!" He smiled falsely, extending a hand.<p>

Klaus merely batted him aside with a huff, turning back to Stefan. "You're not having Rebekah. Give me my coffin and I'll think about letting you live."

Damon winced at that and his gaze flickered to Elijah briefly. They could really use some backup here, Stefan had gotten Klaus in quite the mood unfortunately and he still didn't completely understand why. All he knew was it had something to do with Rebekah, Klaus and Stefan and whatever it was, he was so making Stefan spill the beans when they got home. If they made it home.

He glared at Elijah, mouthing 'a little help?' and jutting out his chin angrily. The original merely gave him a cool look veiled with…reassurance before turning back to his brother.

"The coffin and you never bother Elena again Klaus," Stefan tried, putting out his hand. "Final offer."

Damon shook his head at the waste of an offer but his eyes widened in surprise when Klaus reached down to grasp Stefan's hand firmly. Was he really going to agree? But that made no sense!

In one swift move the hybrid had audibly shattered the bones in Stefan's hand, kicked his feet out from under him and held him stationary as he _burned_ the younger vampire's hand in the fireplace. Stefan was screaming and Damon launched forward, snarling.

Elijah was on him in seconds, pulling him away by the wrist once more and Damon turned, punching the original in the shoulder, hearing a bone crack with the supernatural force and then gouging thick, bloody lines down the original's neck, his hands coming away dripping with the red substance.

Still Elijah held his grip firm merely giving him a sharp glare and using his other hand to make sure both of Damon's thrashing appendages were secured.

"Stop!" He yells at Klaus, throwing his body weight back at Elijah in an attempt to get him to let _go_.

Klaus turns to him and says darkly, "bring me my coffin before I burn him alive." And Damon can't help but think for someone who really cares about him Stefan sure has pissed him the hell off.

"I'll get it!" He grumbles, flinging himself away as Elijah finally releases him, turning to send a lethal glare at the brunette original (who was supposed to be on his side) before storming from the room.

He can hear Stefan groaning behind him and Klaus saying, "go with him brother, you keep him honest."

He is out of earshot before the vampire continues and halfway down the massive driveway before he hears footsteps behind him.

"Damon." The original calls airily, clearly expecting him to snap to attention and Damon rolls his eyes, flipping him the bird.

When the brunette then appears in front of him in a flash of supernatural speed he merely raises a brow, spitting out, "fuck off." Before barging around him and continuing on his way.

"Damon!" The vampire says exasperated and the oldest Salvatore finally stops, spinning on his heel.

"What?" He hissed out, stalking back to him, fangs descending in anger as he got closer. His ire only burned brighter when he was greeted with an amused smirk.

"Calm yourself, there's no need to cave to his demands," the brunette gestures for him to come closer and Damon squints in suspicion. So he was on their side? And he _did_ have a plan?

As bad as he was at them, he was going to insist that next time he outline the plan – in interest of full-disclosure of course.

"What do you suggest we do then?" He ground out. His little brother's hand was in a fireplace, he really didn't have time for this crap.

"Don't you trust me Damon?" Elijah took a step forward and began circling him slowly.

The younger vampire stood his ground, crossing his arms over his chest but couldn't hide the rapid acceleration of his heart.

"Your brother was much easier to bring over to my side." At that moment he was half convinced he'd do anything to be on the original's side. The entire evening Damon had known he'd be out to benefit his own agenda, but he had begun to have his doubts.

Of course, the way Elijah's voice was oozing with appeal Damon knew he'd been duped and the original had been manipulating them all the entire time.

"Come," he murmured. "There's some people you should meet."

He pulled Damon back towards the house, but cut off to the side suddenly, just out of hearing distance of the manor and into the woods. They traipsed through the trees and just as he was about to make a witty complaint, Elijah raised a finger to his lips, pointing to a clearing ahead of them.

There in the clearing stood Rebekah with two other vampires, he was assuming her brothers. Damon turned back to Elijah with wide eyes but waited until they were right in front of the trio and well out of the house's hearing distance before commenting.

"I knew you'd pull something like this," he muttered, sizing up the two unknown vampires with his eyes.

Elijah smiled, amused. "It's a good plan. I wasn't going to trust Klaus to give me what I wanted." Amen to that, Damon thought noticing how the newcomers all tensed at the hybrid's name. Wow, _really_ bad blood between them obviously.

"Kol, Finn, meet Damon." Elijah introduced them, ever the aristocrat and Damon put on a sarcastic smile.

"Welcome to Mystic Falls." He felt like he should finish that with something like, 'where the dead roam free' or 'where you never know what might kill you' but that would be a little too cliché for a group of vampires.

"Not to rush you or anything," he continued, "but Klaus might be killing Stefan as we speak, so let's hurry this little reunion along." He turned to Elijah, "I'm guessing that was your plan right?" His lips quirked up, "overpower him, get revenge etcetera?"

Elijah merely smirked, his head giving an affirmative tilt and Damon stared appreciatively for a moment before he began walking back towards the manor. "Let's go."

The look on Klaus face when Elijah held up a platter of daggers upon their return was priceless and Damon is going to cherish it for the rest of his considerably long life. When Rebekah and Finn both stabbed Klaus, Damon made his way over to Stefan, intending to drag him from the house and get the hell out of dodge.

Kol was restraining Klaus now and Elijah turned to face Damon once more. "You're free to go," he nodded to him and Stefan. "This is family business."

Damon began to drag Stefan out by the wrist but was pulled back when Stefan stopped short. He blinked and turned around to find Stefan staring back at Klaus, the blonde still struggling with his brother and throwing a terrified and wounded look over his shoulder at Stefan.

Damon groaned out loud. "No."

In seconds Kol was flying into the opposite wall and Stefan was standing in front of Klaus. In the fraction it took Kol to recover and come flying back across the room Damon was in front of him, blocking his little brother from the original and taking a crippling blow to the collarbone.

He yelped, stumbling backwards at the hit, wincing in pain as his shattered bones came alight and Kol went for his throat, fangs tearing at pale flesh carelessly, agony engulfing Damon as he screamed out.

As quickly as it had begun, the youngest of the originals was ripped from him and tossed away, Damon blinking his vision clear to find Elijah standing in front of him, glaring at his brother darkly. The look of rage on his face was something Damon had never seen before and was completely out of place on the normally moral vampire.

Kol took a step forward then, apparently game enough to take on Elijah but was stopped by a clear voice ringing out through the room, "that is enough!"

Everything went silent then, the room stilling as all heads snapped up to face the new presence. A middle aged woman in centuries old clothing stepped into the dining area, assessing them all with her eyes as the originals stared with astonishment. Was this who was in the final coffin? A woman? Truly?

He had his answer when Elijah opened his mouth, a shaky breath escaping. "Mother?"

Stefan and Damon look at each other then, Damon from his place leaning heavily against the wall and Stefan from where he is supporting Klaus. Really? Their mother? They gape.

"You kept your mother in a coffin?" Damon can't help but comment, turning to look at Klaus incredulously, knowing he was probably interrupting the touching reunion of the century but just unable to help himself.

Elijah looked enraptured. Klaus looked terrified. He thought Rebekah might actually cry.

The blonde woman shot him and Stefan strange, hard glances then but merely ignored their presence, crossing the room to Klaus.

Damon frowned as Stefan positioned himself slightly in front of the hybrid. He was going to get himself killed, Klaus wasn't worth that.

"Do you know why I'm here?" She asked him and Damon rolled his eyes, he was pretty sure they all knew the answer to that. What does one do to someone who locked them in a coffin for a _thousand_ years, someone they supposedly killed? Hmm. He snorted.

"You're here to kill me." Klaus murmured softly and Stefan glared at the witch, for he was sure her powers must have remained in tact.

"No." She replied. "Niklaus, you are my son and I am here to forgive you."

Damon's eyes widened comically. What the hell…?

The witch turned around then, speaking to the rest of her children as well. "I want us all to be a family again."

While the rest of the originals looked close to tears, a few actually dropping from Rebekah's eyes as she raced forward to embrace her mother, Damon's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He didn't trust her. He knew when there was something off and something was definitely not right here. There was no way she was sincere.

Clearly his little brother felt the same way judging by the glare he was sending her and the way his hand white knuckled hand was gripping Klaus' bicep protectively. Not that Damon knew what was going on there anyway.

The blonde turned to him then, giving a stern look to Damon, then Stefan in turn. "I think it's time for you to leave, my family need their space."

Damon's mouth dropped open at the rude dismissal and he started a few steps forward, before wincing, gripping at his broken collarbone tightly, it still hadn't healed.

He was a little outraged to be honest, especially when Elijah, ever the polite one piped up with an, "I'll show you out," leading them towards the door. Damon turned back to Stefan who only left reluctantly after an affirmative nod from Klaus and together they followed Elijah to the door, neither comfortable with having their backs turned to mother dearest as they went.

Damon winced as he shuffled passed Elijah, his shoulder jolting against the door, his broken bones screaming out. He'd have to get some blood and soon. He eyed off Elijah's appetizing throat and sighed knowing it wasn't worth the trouble. He did wonder though if original blood tasted any different…some other time.

He turned back to meet chocolate eyes before he left, reluctant to leave without at least expressing his suspicions, even if it burst the happy little original family bubble they all had going on here.

The brunette stared back expressionlessly as Damon lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "Be careful." He ground out lowly, trying to convey his discomfort at the new turn of events with his eyes before turning on his heel and striding away, Stefan falling into step beside him.

They headed away from the new mansion and back into town, forgoing the boarding house completely for the eateries and bars still open at this time of night, he glanced down at Stefan's hand, still blistered from the fireplace – they both needed to feed fresh.

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><p><strong>AN:** Klefan just flows for me, it's easier to write and therefore the fic will hopefully live on as it won't be a pain in my butt. What do you guys think? Love youuuuus.

PS. FOR ALL YOU SINGLES OUT THERE, Happy Valentine's Day! I just posted a Klefan Valentine's fic for you all, go check it out ;)


	5. Sparks

I'm so sorry I didn't reply to any reviews this time around, I promise it's a once of happening, you guys know I always reply but I'm just so damn beat, this course is really taking it out of me. It's too time consuming, but thank you all, you know I love you guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything TBH.

Warnings: Not much?

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><p><em>Sparks<br>_

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><p>"I can't believe they're falling for this shit!" Damon ranted to his brother as he paced back and forth across the kitchen. His collarbone had completely healed the night before, he and Stefan having gone into town to feed fresh. It was unfortunate that Alaric had been a patron at the same bar, but he could deal with the hunter's disapproval for now – they had bigger problems.<p>

"Well what do you want to do Damon?" Stefan sighed from his seat at the island, sipping on his _third_ blood bag for the morning. Insatiable. "She's their mother," he continued, "they're blind to it all – we would be too in their position."

Damon grunted. Stefan was right of course, there was nothing they could do to make the originals believe them over their mother, especially since if their assumptions were correct it would ruin their chance at playing 'happy families' forever.

He didn't even know why he cared that much really. He shouldn't, but he did.

"Come on," He said, picking up his car keys, "we should head over to Elena's, fill her in." The doppelganger had sent him a message asking how his meeting with Elijah had gone the previous day, but he hadn't replied. She must be stewing by now.

Stefan sighed. "Do we have to?"

Damon rolled his eyes, snatching the finished blood bag out of his brother's hand and throwing it in the trash. "Yes, we do." He scrutinized the ripper for a minute, frowning, "you can't possibly need to drink any more. We even fed fresh last night."

He received a sheepish look in response. "I don't need to…I just…want to."

"Well you can hold on." He muttered sarcastically, throwing his leather jacket over his shoulders and leading the way out to the car.

Once they were on their way to the Gilbert household he decided to broach what could be a touchy subject, because he was Damon Salvatore and his curiosity just wouldn't let sleeping dogs lie. "So…" He started, "what's going on with you and Klaus?"

Stefan glanced at him quickly but ultimately directed his gaze out the window at the passing scenery.

"Well?" Damon prodded as his brother remained silent.

"Nothing," Stefan sighed heavily and Damon huffed – Stefan could be so angsty sometimes.

"You went back for him," Damon ventured carefully. "You went back to save him from his brothers even when you _knew_ you stood no chance. Why?"

Stefan grit his teeth, glaring darkly out of the window, keeping his lips sealed.

"I'm not judging Stefan," Damon says harshly, a little annoyed that his brother refused to open up when something was clearly bothering him. If he didn't open up to Damon then who would he talk to? He didn't have anyone else – not anymore.

"I just wasn't ready to let him die, okay?" Stefan speaks quietly and Damon knows it's time to give it a rest before he breaks something irreparable.

"Ok," he mumbles just as they pull into Elena's driveway.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets as Stefan knocks on the front door, thinking it best not to just waltz on in considering Elena and his brother weren't on the best of terms anymore.

She opens the door looking frazzled but her surprise at their presence soon turns into a glare. "Why should I even let you in?"

He looks at her confusedly. "What are you _talking_ about?" He raises an eyebrow, "or should I say who have you been talking _to_?"

She leans against the doorframe giving them a stern look. "Ric's who I've been talking to," and she continues on despite Damon's groan, "and I'm talking about you _eating_ the townspeople!"

Stefan let out a small snigger and Damon jabbed him in the gut with his elbow, noticing Elena's upset look at this reaction.

"I was wounded by an original, I needed fresh blood to heal," he says, mostly truthfully. "We didn't kill them if that's what you think."

And they hadn't. After Stefan had pointed out Alaric in a dark corner of the bar, sure he was watching them carefully they had compelled their victims to forget what had happened and sent them on their merry way.

She looks at him levelly. "You were hurt…by an original?" She raises and eyebrow and he only nods in response. She sighs then, pulling the door open wider and turning to walk back into the house. "I guess you better come in…if only to explain yourselves."

Damon saunters after her, Stefan following behind as they make their way into the kitchen. They each take a seat and look across the bench top at her waiting for the interrogation.

"So?" She gestured impatiently with her hands.

"We got nowhere making a deal. All the originals are awake including the mystery coffin which is, in fact, their mother." He sums up succinctly and waits for her reaction.

"Yeah I heard about all that," she says and shakes her head, "but we're still nowhere with Klaus, getting him out of town?" She asks and he shakes his head silently, wondering whether they were going to bother trying to kill him now or whether he and Stefan could just stop destroying the town with their petty little spat.

It was a long shot he supposed. How did she even know about all this anyway? It must be Bonnie, he thought to himself, Elena had probably met up with judgey last night and the witch had spilt the beans.

"On that," Stefan speaks up, "how is she even alive?" He sends Damon a look and they debate silently of whether to tell Elena of their suspicions. "Didn't Klaus rip out her heart a thousand years ago?"

He shot his little brother a look then and raised his eyebrow as if to say, 'shouldn't you know that?' and is rewarded with a kick to the shins under the bench for his efforts.

"I don't know," Elena shrugs. "I'm guessing she has a couple of connections in the witching community." She walks around to stand in front of them then, her face contemplative. "Elijah said she wants to live in peace with her family – even Klaus."

Damon frowns, "wait what?" He sits up straighter in his seat. "Elijah? When did you speak to Elijah?"

"Um…this morning," Elena looks at him sceptically. "Why?"

"No reason," he grumbles, slouching down to rest his elbows on the counter. Elijah had gone to see Elena? He couldn't contain the annoying spark of jealousy that rose at that and he was fairly sure it showed on his face because Stefan was looking at him curiously.

He couldn't help it, there were some emotions that came at him more strongly than others and envy was one of them. He was a jealous person – he was used to getting what he wanted and when he didn't all hell generally broke loose. That much the town of Mystic Falls had seen and suffered when he set his sights on Elena.

"Well anyway," Elena continues, "if she was supposed to be the weapon to kill Klaus, she's certainly not now…at least according to Elijah."

Damon brought his fist down on the counter then in anger. "Why are they all so fucking oblivious?" Elena jumped back at his outburst, taken aback and maybe a little terrified.

"Calm down Damon," Stefan reached across tightening his hand around his brother's forearm.

"Elijah promised me his family wouldn't hurt any of us," Elena misinterpreted his anger and Damon looked to Stefan. Did they tell her that wasn't what they were talking about? That he was more concerned for the original's safety at the moment? No, surely she wouldn't understand and the last thing they needed was her getting in the way.

The doorbell rings then and Damon sighs, motioning for Elena to get it. It's probably judgey or vampire barbie. He's hoping for the second just in case Alaric's decided to open his mouth to more than one person about their little snack last night – he'd definitely have to talk to him about that.

"Do we tell her?" Stefan asked as Elena left to get the door and Damon sighed, shaking his head.

"Nah, let's just play this one by ear."

They nodded in agreement and Elena came back in alone, carrying a fancy envelope with her name looped across the front in formal script.

"What is it?" Stefan perked up and Elena spared him a glance before pulling the letter open.

"It's an invitation." She breathes, her eyes scanning quickly across the…was that parchment? "Please join the Mikaelson family, this evening at seven o'clock," she continues, voice growing more and more astounded, "for dancing, cocktails and celebration."

Stefan frowns, "Who the hell are the Mikaelson's?"

Damon swats him over the back of the head as Elena replies, "the original family." She stares at the invitation in wonder and Damon scoffs.

"What? It's not bad enough that they're all moving to town but now they want a housewarming gift?" He still couldn't shake the feeling that this whole thing was just an elaborate set up by Esther to get something she wanted. He couldn't help but imagine that what she wanted was Klaus' head on a silver platter and while that was alright with Damon, it clearly wouldn't go over so well with his little brother.

Elena's next words only reinforced his suspicions. "Oh, there's a note on the back." She brushed her finger over the expensive looking paper. "Elena, I think it's time that we finally meet…Esther." She reads and Damon glances at the invitation sharply – bingo.

Esther was going to use Elena for whatever her plan happened to be.

"She has a plan." He groans, running a hand through his hair. What did they do now? Should he let Elijah know about this little meeting and let the family sort it out between themselves? No, he'd never believe them, not over his own mother.

"If Esther wants to talk to me I have to find out why." Elena says and Damon finds himself nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"What?" Stefan bursts out then, breaking his contemplative silence, "no! You can't!"

Damon looks at him then, furrowing his brow in question as if to say 'what now'?

"If she needs Elena to kill him then she might do it there and then." Stefan glared up at him, "she can't go alone. I'll go with her."

Damon sighed. "As much as you want to assure that Esther's not going to do anything," He tells Stefan, though he's asking himself in his head why exactly that is, "she won't buy Elena's interest if you're there. She has to go alone."

Stefan stood up abruptly then. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" And without waiting for an answer he stalked from the kitchen.

Damon turned to Elena then, rolling his eyes in apology for his brother's melodrama and went out into the hall to where he was pacing a hole in the floorboards.

"Esther's a powerful witch Damon," Stefan said quietly, "if she goes in there, Esther will probably kill her on the spot for some ritual and then Klaus will die instantly."

He could see his brother's point, but there was no other way. They needed to take this chance – they had to find out what Esther wanted and they had no hope of doing that without Elena going it alone. He couldn't resist however, questioning Stefan on his motives.

"Who is it you're concerned about here Stefan, Elena…or Klaus?"

Stefan flat out glared at him then. "It doesn't matter." Damon took in a deep breath as his brother stood his ground, refusing to budge on the subject. There were some things that he would never understand about his brother, but this wasn't one of them. Stefan had always been like this, Damon had known his brother for over a hundred and fifty years and he knew that when it came to feelings, the ripper wouldn't budge. Not for anything.

He went out on a limb and assumed that his brother _wasn't_ trying to protect Elena. "I know you want to protect him Stefan," he begins awkwardly, "but you can't do that by provoking Esther and that's all you'll be doing if you make things difficult tonight."

Stefan only brushes passed him, knocking his shoulder as he goes. "I'm going with Elena tonight. I'll decide there what to do."

Damon stares at the wall in front of him blankly for a moment. That definitely didn't sound promising. Why did Stefan have to be so difficult?

"Alright," he heads back into the kitchen, giving Elena a farewell wave. "Stefan and I are going to take off, he'll be back tonight to escort you to this…ball."

Elena splutters, staring at him in outrage for just deciding for her and perhaps a little for forcing her to spend time with Stefan but he doesn't give her a chance to protest, merely grabbing Stefan's arm and tugging him out the door to the car.

The drive home is silent. To be honest he's a little annoyed with Stefan and his stubborn streak. Even if he knows that's just how his brother is with these things, it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

When he pulls into the drive he locks up the mustang and pulls off his leather jacket. As he reaches the door however he notices something on the mat – two envelopes. Raising an eyebrow he bends down to pick them up opening his own and Stefan's.

They're the same on the front but on the back there's messages scrawled. In perfect calligraphy his invitation has written: _Don't be late, xoxo E_. He laughs out loud at the reference to his own little note he'd left, the smile lingering on his lips as he flips Stefan's over.

"Hey!" His brother yells, reaching over to try and snatch the paper from his hands. Damon laughs fully then, darting away from Stefan and reading as he went. _Save me a dance – Klaus_.

Stefan manages to snatch it then as Damon pauses in shock. "Hmm," he mumbles, flipping his own over to read it again. "Looks like we're both going anyway, not that I wouldn't of," he smirks, reading the words one more time before heading back into the house. "Good thing I look amazing in a tux."

* * *

><p>When he enters the ballroom that night he's alone, Stefan having headed over to Elena's house to escort her so he merely wanders until he finds someone he knows.<p>

"Carol," he greets the mayor languidly. "Hanging out with your new besties?" He snarks and she merely smiles, close-lipped.

"When the oldest, deadliest family of vampires moves into town, you welcome them with a smile," she says quietly and then checks to make sure no other unsuspecting citizen is within hearing range.

"Well," he sneers, "at least you know who you're borrowing that cup of sugar from."

"I'm trying to protect my town, Damon!" She protests and he brightens up for a minute.

"Have you met their mother?" He asks quickly, the thought having just come to mind.

"Not yet," the mayor replies, "why?" She's looking at him in confusion.

Damon glares at his thoughts, "I just don't trust her."

Carol rolls her eyes at him, "you don't trust anyone Damon." And it's true, he really doesn't but this is actually based on suspicions…or rather facts, not just blind speculation.

They are approached by his now least favourite original then and he feels his collarbone pang with ghost pains. "Mayor Lockwood," the brunette greets cheerfully, "we haven't formally met; Kol Mikaelson." He extends a hand towards her all the while sending Damon a smug look.

He merely sneers back, watching as the original simpers. "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it."

Damon snorts at that, shaking his head. Deciding to play along with the vampire's little game he interrupts sarcastically, "Damon Salvatore, have we met?" He puts on a fake smile and extends his hand, willing the other vampire to take it so he can break every bone in the appendage.

Kol merely glances down at his hand and then back up again. "I've met a lot of people and you don't particularly stand out."

Okay, that was it. He cracked his knuckles as the brunette walked away. That ass was going to get it. He was going to snap his neck like a twig the annoying little-"Damon!" Elena cut off his thoughts, waving a hand in front of his face.

He took in her appearance, stunning as always before turning to his brother, the rippers arm interlocked with hers.

The other new original approaches them then and Damon groans, expecting more conflict. He looks around the room then, spotting Klaus mingling with a group of seemingly oblivious people but not spotting Elijah anywhere just yet.

"Elena Gilbert I presume?" Finn Mikaelson introduces himself and Stefan is watching his every move. "You're here to see my mother." This one is straight to the point and Damon finds he likes it a little better than Kol's sarcastic and deceitful attitude, which is a laugh considering his own personality. Too much alike then maybe? Nah, he decided – he wasn't that much of a dick.

"Her request did not include your friends," Finn informs her, staring at the Salvatore brothers distastefully. "If you want to see my mother, you'll need to be alone."

Stefan's grip on Elena's arm tightens and they both open their mouths to reply but are interrupted by the chime of a champagne glass and Elijah's voice ringing out across the ballroom. Damon turns to the stairs and takes in the scene, feeling sparks burn his chest. He's so damn _regal_.

"If everyone could gather please," Damon barely notices as Finn disappears from beside them and reappears on the stairs with his family, his attention is completely taken by the brunette original preparing to give a speech.

"Welcome, thank you for joining us." Elijah smiles the biggest they've ever seen him show. "You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance." Damon scoffs silently. He's quite sure that instead of dancing he'd like to lop their mother's head off.

Whatever she was selling they were obviously all lapping it up with no second thought to the ludicrousness of her forgiveness. Come on, Klaus at least had to have his doubts considering she'd tried to kill him before and she'd been the one to curse him in the first place.

For god's sake, how naïve were they?

"Tonight's pick is a centuries old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourself a partner, please join us in the ballroom." He manages to catch a brief look of Esther disappearing back up the stairs and curses himself for focusing on Elijah and missing her appearance completely.

He is torn from his thoughts by Elena pulling him by the arm through the milling people and onto the ballroom floor, wrapping her arms around him. "I thought you were here with Stefan?" He asks curiously, stepping into a waltz he could do in his sleep with his hundred years of experience.

"He's a little preoccupied," she motioned with her head to the side and he turned to see Stefan circling Klaus like prey. He chuckled out loud. Leave it to his brother to try and manipulate the hybrid in public.

"You should go see Esther now," he realises. "While Stefan's occupied." He didn't know how long his brother's little charade with Klaus would go for and with Esther up there alone this could be her only chance of the night for going it solo.

She nods quickly, detaching herself from his arms and moving toward the staircase as he moves down the line to snag his next partner in Caroline.

"Looking good Barbie," he comments, eliciting a giggle from the baby vampire.

"Well you're not so bad yourself," she comments, letting him twirl her now, drifting out of the waltz.

He danced with Caroline for thirty minutes before he grew a little concerned and ventured out into the hallways to see if he could spot Elena. Instead he walked right into Elijah – literally. He was pretty sure the original planned it that way though.

"Walk with me," he motioned, moving forward and waiting for Damon to fall into step beside him.

Damon looked up at him curiously, waiting for the older vampire to speak.

"I just spoke to Elena," he begins, "I asked her what she spoke with my mother about, whether I should be concerned about her intentions." He motioned and Damon looked across sharply.

"And?" He spurred, eyes widening.

"And," the original continued, "Elena tells me she merely wanted to apologise and there's nothing to worry about?"

Damon scoffed. "You don't seriously believe that bitch has good intentions?" Damon hisses and regrets it immediately as he finds himself against the wall by his throat, choking.

"That's my mother you're talking about," the original snarls, baring his fangs and Damon glares, pulling at the hands clenched around his neck.

"Sorry." His eyes soften as Elijah drops him and he stumbles back to his feet. "But you have to know it's true," he tries again. "It doesn't make any sense Elijah."

The original seemingly starts at the use of his name, staring at Damon for a moment before beginning to pace. "I know," he admits, bringing a hand up to run it through his hair in stress, a gesture so uncharacteristic of him that Damon blinks just to check he's awake.

"Elena lied to me," he says abruptly, stopping in his tracks to face Damon. "I asked about mother's intentions, about whether she had truly forgiven Klaus and Elena lied to my face."

Damon bit his lip. "Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but whatever her intentions are…they aren't good."

Elijah looks at him vulnerably then and Damon feels unfamiliar compassion rise in him, reaching forward to touch the original's shoulder. "I'll find out what was said, ok?" He assures, knowing that Elena will spill the beans to him or Stefan anyway, it was only a matter of time.

The original still didn't look placated so Damon sighed, turning to leave back the way he came. "I'll go and ask her now."

He wandered back into the ballroom and found Elena talking with Caroline by the canapés. "Can we talk?" He asked, putting a hand on her arm to lead her out of the room but she pulled away.

"Later," she motioned and walked into the crowd, unaware of his frustrated growl behind her.

The ballroom quieted then as Esther appeared at the top of the staircase, a light pink flute of champagne in hand and began to speak. He listens as she lies through her teeth about knowing 'no greater joy than having her family together as one' and encourages everyone to have a drink of champagne as the waiters filtered through the crowd, offering flutes to anyone and everyone.

Elena appeared back in front of him after the toast and dragged him outside where it was quiet. "Now, what do you want?"

He glared at her shortness before responding, "I _want _to know what Esther said."

Elena bit her lip. "She…she wants to destroy them." Damon's heart thumps at the plural, "all of them."

His jaw dropped. "How?" He asked hurriedly, "how is she going to do that?"

Elena looks at him sharply. "Why Damon?"

"Because!" He explodes, "we can't let her do that!" He hissed. "They don't all deserve that! Elijah doesn't deserve that!"

She worries her bottom lip with her teeth and sighs, "I know Damon, but it's the only way."

"How?" He grits out. "We can't let her do it."

Elena looks at the ground then and his heart stops. "It's already done, Damon. They drank the champagne, they're linked as one."

He frowned, "they all drank it?" She winced then and his eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"My job," she murmurs, "was to get Elijah to drink it."

Damon snarls, pushing clenching his fists to keep himself from lashing out. "Elena!" He yells. Even he knows this is wrong and if he feels that way then he's pretty sure Elena should know better.

"It's my life Damon!" She yells at him, "It's my life or theirs!"

"We could have found another way!" He explodes, glaring as she nearly bursts into tears. It's not always just about her.

"It's done, Damon." She whispers, "there's nothing you can do." And with that she turns to head back into the building. She's stopped however by Elijah's silent figure, staring from the entryway.

The original says nothing, merely disappears faster than even the supernatural eye can follow.

* * *

><p>He's searched inside the party for Elijah after that but when the original didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be.<p>

He really should have informed Stefan of the night's events and even Klaus, but he was just too angry to be at the event any longer. He feared if he saw Elena he might snap and do something he'd regret.

So he headed home, changing into some sweatpants and throwing himself on his bed. He tried to sleep early but his mind wasn't having any of it and he tossed and turned trying to think of a solution, any way out of this dead end situation. They had to do something right?

He sighed out loud, tossing over once more and tensing as he felt the presence of another in his room. He was surprised when he looked up that it wasn't Stefan but Elijah. The original had lost the suit jacket somewhere along the way but remained in the pants and dress shirt. Somehow Damon couldn't see him in anything else. The idea of Elijah in jeans was ludicrous to him.

He merely stared up at the older vampire expressionlessly, not wanting to give away the turmoil that was churning in his gut at the brunette's imminent demise.

Slowly, the original kicked off his shoes and padded over, lying beside him silently. Understanding the need to be anything but alone, Damon merely closed his eyes and attempted to sleep once more.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Um, not too soft? I hope? What do you guys think?

I didn't really want the whole Damon/Stefan fighting issue, so I hope it wasn't too weird leaving it out. Anywho...


	6. Aflame

_Over 100 Reviews already? I love you guys so much! :)_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own much of anything TBH.

**Warnings:** Nothing really.

* * *

><p><em>Aflame<br>_

* * *

><p>When Damon awoke the next morning, he was surprised to find Elijah still there, having expected the vampire to disappear by the next day, perhaps run as far away from here as he could get. But no, running wasn't Elijah's style, was it?<p>

The original was studying him, brown eyes blank of feeling. "What do I do, Damon?" Elijah asked, expressionlessly, betraying nothing. "Do I kill my mother, my own flesh and blood?"

Damon remained silent. How did one respond to that? The answer of course, was easy – yes. Yes, because they had to. It was kill or be killed, but he also understood that it wasn't that simple. This was the woman who gave them life, more than once.

If he were to put himself in the originals' position, he didn't know that he could take out his own mother either, even if she had betrayed him first.

"I don't know what to tell you." He sighed, pulling himself up. He knew what it was like to be in Elijah's position – to have a parent out for your blood as if they never loved you in the first place – all because you were a vampire, because of something you couldn't control.

He hadn't been the one to take out Guisseppe Salvatore though, though it was something he'd take to his grave, he was eternally grateful that Stefan had been the one to do that, because he wasn't sure that he could have done it…and if he had, that he could have lived with himself.

As much as he tried to deny it Stefan was stronger than him in many ways, much stronger. And in matters of the…heart…Damon was fragile. People like him, like Elijah...they weren't made for this. And add onto that Elijah's seemingly blinding morality…Damon wasn't deluding himself, the original _couldn't_ do it. At least not alone.

"I'll do it." He said firmly, walking towards the door but throwing a stern look over his shoulder. It had to be done.

He really shouldn't be startled that Elijah is inches from him within minutes but sometimes the speed of the original vampire's still manages to unsettle him. It's a little reminder that he's not the top of the food chain anymore – that he's never been, no matter what he's believed.

At first Damon thought Elijah would protest, claim that they could find another way, any other way. But the original merely sighed, an action that betrayed the tiredness he was trying to cover with a blank face. "We need to warn my brothers and Rebekah."

"It shocks you, huh?" Damon isn't trying to be snide for once, just trying to show that he understands – that he's been there once, "that your own parent could want you dead for something out of your control." He can't help but prod, even knowing that he's treading on dangerous ground.

He's surprised when Elijah merely frowns and answers honestly. "I think I'm more surprised that Klaus really was trying to protect us all this time."

If there's anything that Damon can understand it's that.

"While it might not seem like it," he struggled a little, having to violently squash down his hatred of Klaus, "he's still your brother." 'They want what's best for you' remained unsaid.

When they descended the stairs they were confronted with the amused gaze of Klaus himself, flanked by Stefan from his place in the living room where Kol and Rebekah were also sat, the latter flipping through a magazine, feet swung over the recliner.

"Finally," she muttered, throwing the colourful book down as she spotted them.

Damon rolled his eyes, looking over to his brother. "I'm guessing Elena told you too then?" At Stefan's nod he rolled his eyes before moving around Klaus and wandering into the kitchen. He pulled a few blood bags out of the fridge and threw them in the microwave, only meandering back out to meet the others when he had a breakfast at room temperature.

"And here I could have brought breakfast," Klaus muttered sarcastically and Damon sent him a sharp glare.

"So?" He asked to the room at large, ignoring the hybrid, "what's the plan?"

"I know you don't all think it's the best option," Stefan began, "but killing her really would be…" he trailed off at the looks the rest of the originals sent him. "Okay…"

"What if we could get judgey to put her back in the coffin?" Damon asked Klaus, going against his gut instinct that said eliminating her completely should be the only way to go.

"You do have two generations of Bennett witches," Klaus mused. "Would they help us though? Knowing that it would mean _saving_ all of us?"

Okay, that was a point too. Anyone who knew Bonnie Bennett knew that she wouldn't help save any of the originals, especially Klaus.

"Are they attractive?" Kol asked amused from his place on the couch. "I could…_convince_ them."

Damon scoffed as Rebekah snorted, the rest of the room obviously sharing the common opinion that Bonnie Bennett could in no way be convinced. Unless…

"What if we – and by we, I mean you," he began, "took Elena?" He raised an eyebrow, continuing to explain at their sceptical looks. "We threaten Elena's life – it's the best way to get anyone to do anything in this damn town." He knew from experience.

"Would they really believe that?" Stefan spoke up curiously.

"They wouldn't from us, but maybe from them," Damon motioned.

Stefan shook his head. "But Klaus needs her and they know that. Maybe if the others had turned against him…I don't know."

"We just need to kill her!" Damon bit out finally, frustrated. "It's the only way."

"That's my mother!" Rebekah yelled, leaping to her feet. "We can't just kill her!"

"She wants to kill you!" Damon hissed, "all of you!" He looked at Elijah then. "It doesn't really matter what any of you think anyway." He glared, "because if it comes down to it, Stefan and I _will_ kill her."

And with that he stormed out of the house, angry with himself and with the rest of them for being so naïve. He understood of course, but that didn't make him any less irritated with them for it. He needed a drink.

Where was Alaric when you needed him anyway? The damn vampire hunter had been spending too much time with that psycho doctor, Fell. He was pretty sure that she was behind all these murders and while he knew Alaric could defend himself he really didn't like the thought of his only friend hanging around the serial killer. Especially with the amount of times he'd died recently.

He ordered a bourbon the second he reached the Mystic Grill, throwing it back in a second and sparing no time in ordering another. No matter how old he became it still managed to irritate him to no end the amount he had to drink the even get a slight buzz.

Twenty minutes and god knows how many drinks later, he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. "Hey," Bonnie Bennett slid onto the stool beside him quietly.

"What do you want?" He asked, a little intrigued but glaring at her all the same. He supposed she would be used to that from him though.

"I know you know that Esther's asked for my help."

Damon raises an eyebrow – what exactly does she want from him, his approval? Because she sure as hell wasn't getting it. Feeling suddenly incensed he slammed his glass down on the bar, turning to face her fully. "Yeah, I do know that, and listen here _witchy_," It's not the usual term of endearment, it's harsher – a threat. "You had better not do a damn thing to help that _bitch_ or I will personally tear your throat out."

Bonnie sends him a dark glare at that, her lip curling up. "What makes you think I'm scared of you Damon?"

He reaches over, taking her wrist and swiftly pulling her closer, squeezing painfully. "_You_ might not be scared, but I won't come after you first, I'll come after your mother and then once you've watched her die, _then_ we'll see how scared you are."

"Damon!" Elijah scolds from _out of nowhere_ appearing next to them with a brush of air.

Bonnie is looking significantly paler and Damon grunts, taking pride in the fact that he'd achieved what he'd intended but not planning on pushing the envelope further with the original around. Rolling his eyes, he turned to look up at the brunette, fluttering his lashes.

"Yes Elijah?" He asks smarmily. "What was so important you had to interrupt me while I was saving your life?"

The original only gives him a deadpan look. "We have devised a plan," he mutters quietly, glancing over at Bonnie, clearly indicating he wasn't going to give any more information whilst the witch was around.

"Alright," Damon stood up, stomping out of the establishment, arms crossed. "What is it?" He asked as they left, still believing without a doubt in his mind that his way was the best way and there was nothing else to it.

"We are going to dagger one of us," the brunette doesn't look particularly impressed at this but continues on anyway, "and because of the spell we will _all_ succumb."

Damon raises an eyebrow. "You're buying time."

"Yes," the original nods. "For Stefan and yourself to find another option."

Damon heaves a deep sigh, only finding himself more irritated with the entire original family's lack of comprehension. How hard was it to understand that this had to be done? It didn't matter whether it was their mother or not, it was kill or be killed.

"Who are they going to dagger?" He asked, beginning the journey back to the boarding house, grateful for the slight buzz his copious amounts of alcohol had awarded him.

"It doesn't matter," Elijah shook his head. "As long as we are incapacitated Finn will not be able to sacrifice himself and thereby kill us all."

"What's with that?" Damon asked suddenly. "Why would he want to die? He couldn't possibly hate you or Klaus that much?" He really couldn't comprehend why someone would want to end themselves like this.

"He doesn't hate us," Elijah answered steadily. "He hates what we are –what he is. Finn would give anything to be human…or to just have it all be over."

Damon shook his head from side to side but remained silent.

"As uncomfortable as I am with this idea, as long as you keep our bodies secured, we will be fine until you can come up with a plan." Seeing Damon bite his lip uncharacteristically he then added, "you will of course have Klaus for support as well."

Elijah wasn't the only one uncomfortable with it. Damon really didn't like the idea of the original's being down and out for the count so to speak (he didn't really consider Klaus since he kind of couldn't stand the guy). He'd much prefer to have them as back up when facing off against their crazy witch-bitch of a mother. He supposed he'd rather they didn't all die either…especially Elijah.

"Okay," Damon ran a hand over his face, agreeing with the older vampire but in his mind, already formulating other plans, running through his other options. He would agree with them for now, at least until their little plan was underway and they had no say otherwise and no way of knowing what he was planning until it was too late.

Find another way? There was no other way.

"Damon?" Elijah said softly then, grabbing his attention and meeting his eyes. His voice then turned to stone, "don't do anything stupid."

Putting on his best 'innocent' face the brunette merely smiled, "who me?" And continued on his way, plotting all the while.

Later that afternoon when he watched his best friend drive a dagger through Elijah's heart for the second time that year, he felt the same tinge of guilt he'd experienced the first time. This time however it had nothing to do with the daggering, more to do with what was to come.

He had a plan – a better plan than theirs. It was the only way, he'd just have to hope that when the original's recovered they didn't kill him first and ask questions later, because he was sure that after what he was about to do – he'd be public enemy number one.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Sorry they're taking so long guys, I'm so bogged down with assignments it's not funny! :(


	7. Scalded

_I am so, so, unbeliveably sorry this so late!  
><em>

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a decent pair of shorts let alone TVD.

**Warnings:** The usual.

* * *

><p><em>Scalded<br>_

* * *

><p>"Damon…" Stefan began, no doubt seeing right through his brothers lies.<p>

"Do you want your hybrid to live or not, Stefan?" He ground out lowly, eyes darting to the door and back, anticipating Klaus' return any minute now.

"You shouldn't be doing this…whatever it is you're doing alone." Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. "I can already tell it's a bad idea."

He wasn't going to tell Stefan his plan. He wasn't going to tell anyone, the less people in the loop the more likely he was to succeed. Besides, he didn't need anyone trying to stop him. This was for the best and hopefully the rest of them would see it his way eventually – otherwise it was all for nothing, wasn't it?

"Look Stefan, just…trust me." He pleaded, "If I'm not back in say…three hours, then raise the alarm, ok?"

He watched as his brother hesitantly nodded before pulling on his trademark leather jacket and making his way out the door into the fresh air. Stefan would tell Klaus he'd gone to the grill to brainstorm with Alaric and as long as the hunter didn't show up at the boarding house then the hybrid would be none the wiser. And with the way Alaric obviously felt about him after the other night's 'midnight snack' he wasn't expecting a visit for quite a while.

He had fed fresh earlier after they'd daggered the brothers, wanting to be at full strength for his plans tonight – he would need it. He was kind of glad at that point that his little brother was the ripper because Klaus hadn't batted an eyelash at his sudden binge drinking episode, he had merely laughed and went about his business.

There were of course many ways his plan could backfire spectacularly, many, many ways. But he had to try because otherwise the originals would die before they could come up with an alternative solution. Elijah thought daggering would buy them time and he was right in a way, but they weren't working against the clock, they were working against Esther and he was pretty sure she knew exactly how she would kill them all before she had set the plan in motion. Ergo, it probably wouldn't take long for her to work around their little paralysis trick.

Anyway, an angry Elijah was better than a dead Elijah – and when did he ever come to that opinion? An angry Elijah was a dead Damon, that's what it was. What made him assume even for a second that the older vampire would spare him for defying his orders and killing his mother, only because it was for his sake?

Elijah had given them no reason to trust him whatsoever and Damon needed to stop looking at him with blind faith, he knew that, truly – he just couldn't help himself.

He swaggered up some creaky steps and onto a poorly lit porch, rapping his knuckles against the sturdy door of the Bennett residence harshly until the young Bennett witch herself appeared in front of him.

"Judgey." He greeted coolly, watching her expression turn from surprise to distaste…and was that suspicion? What a shock.

"Damon. What are you doing here?" The witch raised her eyebrow and leaned against the doorframe, sizing him up.

"Well I've been thinking about what you said – about Esther asking for your help?" At her unimpressed glare, he continued sarcastically, "I'm here to make you a better offer?"

"Gee, I don't know Damon, killing off all the vampires in Mystic Falls is pretty hard to top." She reached up with one hand and was halfway through the motion of shutting the door in his face when he stopped her with his foot.

"What about Elena's safety?" That made her stop and listen.

"Klaus will never leave Elena alone, Damon." Bonnie scoffed at him and Damon nearly shook his head – so predictable.

"Klaus would prefer to keep his life than to have a bunch of hybrid zombies." He thought that was perfectly believable to be honest, in fact he didn't know _why_ exactly Klaus wasn't thinking that way now. Perhaps because they weren't actually sure he _would_ die…he wasn't incapacitated now after all.

It wasn't like anyone had any of that white oak tree laying around right? Then again, that was why he was here…they couldn't risk it…_he_ couldn't risk it, and did he care about Esther's fate? Hell no!

Bonnie remained sceptical. "Maybe you should make this clearer Damon."

He rolled his eyes. "You help me tonight and Klaus will leave Elena alone – for good."

"And you think I'm just going to take his word for it?"

"No. That's why he's not here, offering you the deal. You're going to take _my_ word for it." He stepped forward, getting into her personal space. "Bonnie," he whispered, "I wouldn't lie to you. I want to protect Elena – that's all I've ever wanted, you know that!"

The Bennett witch scoffed a little at that but still seemed intrigued. "Who's to say Klaus won't just go back on his word? I don't trust him."

"You don't have to trust him Bonnie," He looked at her imploringly. "The one you're trusting here is me..." He couldn't pull off the puppy dog look and he couldn't make his eyes water with fake tears but he could certainly do the next best thing when it came to the scooby gang. "Please…for Elena?"

Hook, line and sinker.

"What do I have to do?" She sighed, stepping back to let him inside.

He followed her into the living room where her grimoire was on the coffee table. "Where's your mother?" He asked suddenly, eyes darting to the ceiling as if he could see through it. He didn't trust Abby Bennett in the slightest and he wouldn't put it past her to throw a wrench in his plans if given the chance.

"She went home for a few days," Bonnie murmured, "to see Jamie."

Ouch. That was harsh. What kind of mother gives up their own flesh and blood child to raise another one that didn't belong to them?

"Ok." He nodded, deciding not to comment on the Bennett family drama and just get what he came here for. "I need you to find a spell that will incapacitate Esther. For like...thirty seconds."

"Well," Bonnie frowned, "that shouldn't be too hard right? All we have to do is take away her magic…" She flipped through the grimoire. "I'm sure I've seen this before."

Damon watched as the dark skinned girl closed her eyes with a frown and held her hands over the book in front of her, before supressing a shiver as the pages began to rapidly blow across, thumping open to a certain spell. Creepy. Damn he hated witches.

They could be useful though, he supposed as he read the spell it had opened to, upside down. That was it. A spell to take her 'essence', which Bonnie assured meant her powers. That would make her vulnerable enough for Damon to attack, especially since she no longer had any protection with Finn down and out for the count.

"When are we doing this?" She asked and Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Right now witchy," he commented, moving swiftly out of the room, hearing her rush to follow him.

"It can't wait until morning?" She asked grumpily, stomping after him.

"No," he ground out. "Klaus wants it done tonight, do you want to help Elena or not?" He lied through his teeth, laying on the guilt trip. He almost felt bad…but no, it was for a good cause anyway. He shrugged t himself – they'd all thank him later.

It wasn't like he could say hey, I want it done as soon as possible because the sooner it's done, the sooner I can wake up the original siblings and face the music, oh and by the way, I lied, Klaus is never going to leave Elena alone for as long as she lives and her children are probably doomed to the same fate.

Nah, he definitely wasn't going to say that.

He remained silent as she drove her Prius out of town and to the outskirts where the 'Mikaelson Manor' was. The original's had come to the boarding house before and Klaus was still staying there so it was safe to assume Esther had made this place her base of operations – and wasn't that a kick in the teeth? The house Klaus had built from the ground up for her – for his family – and she was sitting in there, probably tapping her fingers like the evil queen and planning his demise.

He was going to have the little witch park down the street for the element of surprise but then he realised that there weren't in fact going to be any vampires around to hear them, there wouldn't be any in the house with Finn down because it wasn't as if Esther kept their kind for company. In a house that big she wouldn't hear them coming anyway – thank you Klaus!

He levelled Bonnie with a look and they exited the car silently. He only had to apply a little pressure to the front door for the lock to crumble and he slipped inside quietly, Bonnie following less gracefully behind. To be honest it didn't matter if they didn't take her completely by surprise because she was expecting to see Bonnie anyway. Damon's presence might raise an eyebrow but Esther would just assume he was there because he'd defaulted to her side, how was she to know any different? She probably thought too highly of herself anyway to assume that someone would be daring enough – or powerful enough – to take her on in her own home…and he used that term very loosely.

It wasn't hard to find her, the original mother settled in the study she'd resided in when Elena had gone to see her, or at least he presumed it was the same room – it was the hallway Elijah had emerged out of at the ball anyway.

She was looming over a thick tome – presumably a grimoire of sorts, probably some poor sod's she'd stolen it from…or Klaus had over the years, and she seemed to be flicking rapidly over the contents, jumping from paragraph to paragraph and then back again as if checking details.

Seconds after the door opened her eyes shot up, taking in the two but before she could get a word out Bonnie had begun chanting. She nodded at Damon hurriedly, motioning that he needed to move _now_, just as Esther rose from her seat and held a hand up in his direction.

Damon winced instinctively, anticipating the now familiar pain of an aneurism caused by a vindictive witch but smirked when he was met with nothing. Hastily he threw himself at the older woman, barrelling into her form and slamming her into the wall.

He ignored her outrage as Bonnie's chant began to wane, her energy draining. Hurriedly, he messily tore open his wrist, blood gushing from torn flesh as he slammed it to the witch's mouth, cutting off her air supply forcefully with his other hand so that she had no choice but to drink. As soon as she had taken in a few mouthfuls of blood despite her struggles, he pulled away, giving her one last look over before snapping her neck and letting her form crumble to the ground.

He turned to find Bonnie blinking at him in shock, mouth agape as she looked from him, to Esther's prone form and then back again. "What…? What did you do?"

"What was necessary." He said darkly, wiping his wrist on his shirt as the wound healed over, leaving new pink skin behind.

"You can go home now judgey." He shrugged, picking up the older witch's body and throwing it over his shoulder, still feeling strong despite his blood loss after the fresh feed he'd had that afternoon.

"Damon!" She cried after him, but then fell silent, obviously knowing better than to challenge him tonight, especially when she thought her actions had bought Elena's safety for good…oops.

He was glad when he returned to the boarding house that Klaus and Stefan were upstairs, because it gave him the few seconds he needed as the body over his shoulder began to stir, to take a blood bag from the fridge and force it down her throat. O-Negative, one of his least favourites – no way he was giving her the good stuff.

When he looked up from where he was squatting on the floor next to the rapidly blinking body of mama original it was to find Stefan and Klaus frozen in the doorway, staring as if they were unsure of what they were seeing.

"What did you _do_…?" Klaus says quietly, looking down at Esther and Damon shrugs, standing up.

"What was necessary. It was the best way."

"She doesn't have her powers now," Stefan said slowly, realisation setting in. "You can't be both a witch and a vampire, witch's need a connection with nature…vampires are dead." He explains more to himself than the room at large.

"Yeah, so now she's weaker than all of us. She's no longer a threat but I left her alive for sentimental value," he says harshly, nearly expecting Klaus to launch across the room and tear his throat out but the hybrid seemed too shell shocked to do anything.

"Anyway," Damon shrugged. "You watch her, I'll go wake the others." He sidestepped the two and exited the kitchen, making his way down the basement stairs, yeah not the most original…well…original hiding spot, but it was probably the safest with one of them in the house at all times.

He removed Elijah's dagger first and being only daggered for a few hours he shot up almost immediately, eyes flickering rapidly before settling on Damon.

"How long has it been?" The brunette asked, frowning to himself as if his internal clock was saying something was definitely wrong here.

Damon rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down at him sheepishly. "A couple of hours…"

Elijah glares then, picking up on his guilt clearly before Damon even felt it. "What did you do?" His tone is scalding.

"I…ensured your safety?" He tries, raising an eyebrow.

Elijah merely adopts a stony glare and Damon glares right back indignantly, an angry heat rising in his gut, not noticing the other two siblings regaining their pallor.

They're face to face and Damon can't help but snort. "Unbelievable." Because wasn't this always the way things went with him? He could try and try to do something for someone else but they would never be happy, everything he did always had to be _wrong_. Katherine. Elena. Elijah.

"You know what? Fuck you." He spits out, resisting the urge to lash out with his fists. "I should have just killed her," he bit out, before storming up the stairs, refusing to look back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Anyone see that coming? I didn't.


	8. Combust

_I think there might actually be only two more chapters left of this story. Ten's a nice rounded number. Maybe.  
><em>

**Disclaimer:** You know it.

**Warnings:** Language.

* * *

><p><em>Combust<br>_

* * *

><p>If you were Damon Salvatore, no matter which century it was you could always rely on one thing to remain constant – everybody always thought the worst of you.<p>

"Go away witchy," he muttered, noting the dark skin out of the corner of his eyes and rolling them at Bonnie's appearance. She looked him up and down, taking in his rumpled clothes from the night before and the glass of bourbon in his hand being rapidly drained.

"A girl can't enjoy a drink with friends?"

"I'm not your friend." He bit out harshly, slamming his empty glass back down on the bar and signalling for a refill that would have been denied if he hadn't compelled the bartender hours ago. He really needed to find a new haunt, if he wasn't at the damn Mystic Grill then the damn witch wouldn't have found him in the first place.

"I'm guessing it didn't go over that well?" She raised an eyebrow, shaking her head at his drinking habits and he shot her a sharp glare.

"You know what Bennett, I lied last night, there's no way in hell Klaus is ever going to let Elena live her happy little life, so you can just go right back to hating me now and _fuck off_."

He could grudgingly admit – only to himself of course – that he's a little impressed when she doesn't flinch, holds her resolve and glares right back at him in a steely fashion.

"Did you really think I was stupid enough to believe you?"

He snorted. "There's no way you would have done something so…dishonourable otherwise!" He spat.

"I don't give a shit about Esther, Damon." The witch rolled her eyes, surprising him again. "It's her fault that vampires, _all_ vampires, were created in the first place. If she couldn't be killed then turning her seems a fitting punishment, don't you think?"

Damon stared unabashedly, wide eyed at the teenager as she signalled the bartender, shooting him a look when the man abruptly asked for her ID. He compelled the man obligingly, before going right back to staring.

"Who _are_ you and what have you done with Bonnie Bennett?"

She just looked at him dully, starting on the vodka she'd ordered. "What, you're the only one with a 'do what they want and get away with it' badge?"

"…Did you just quote Transformers?"

"You've seen Transformers?"

"No comment," he grumbled, staring down into his glass again.

"Look Damon," she bit down on her bottom lip. "I don't care honestly, I'm just wondering…well, why?"

"Murdering mama original together in no way makes us best friends, judgey." He got up from his stool, ignoring her raised eyebrow. "I'm not Stefan, I'm not going to spill my guts for everyone to see."

The witch raised her hands, holding them up in a classic 'surrender' gesture. "Fine," she shook her head, "you just looked like you needed to, that's all." She looked him up and down, "you're still wearing last night's clothes after all."

He watched as she threw her glass down on the bar and stalked off. She was right of course, he did kind of need to spill his guts about it. He was so _angry_. Angry at Elijah, angry at himself for letting that spark of hope that someone could understand him grow into a small fire, only for it to be stomped out.

But he wasn't a teenage girl, he was a hundred and fifty year old vampire – he wasn't going to sit down with a girlfriend and spill all his secrets, neither was he going to do a Stefan and write it all down in a journal. He could handle it himself thank you very much – he didn't need anyone else's input into his life.

He knew of course that the other reason the little witch had approached him was because she was burning with anger too, self-righteous fury was oozing out of her every pore – eating her up inside. But again, it wasn't his problem – he didn't know why and he wasn't going to make himself care. Not anymore.

He felt like he was going to self-combust any minute now and kill everyone in the damn establishment, which really wouldn't be a good thing considering it would be a little too hard to cover up.

Growling to himself he threw his glass down as well and stormed toward the door, managing to pull back at the last minute to only just avoid getting slammed in the face with it.

"Damon!" Carol Lockwood called, surprised, reaching a hand out to touch his arm. He twitched a little at that but breathed deeply through his nose and calmed down enough to focus on what she was saying.

He really had anger management issues.

"We really need to talk," her eyes darted to the inside of the Grill and back again and Damon rolled his eyes, stepping out and moving into the alley beside the side door he'd been using to exit.

"What?" He snapped out dangerously, glaring down at the middle-aged woman defiantly. It annoyed him to no end the way she only flinched back a little bit – that since their discovery of his vampirism and his efforts in working with the council they all now thought of him as something akin to a neutered puppy dog.

She lowered her voice, looking at him seriously. "You need to stop drinking from the townspeople. We turn a blind eye to the looting of the hospital blood bags for obvious reasons, but you can't just-"

She was cut off as he gripped her roughly around the throat, snarling. "Oh Carol." He shook his head. "You know, I will never understand why you people can't just get that I'm a vampire," he shrugged, watching as she struggled, scraping her nails against his hand.

He knew this was a bad idea, he didn't need to bring a town full of vampire hunters down upon himself but seriously? He hadn't even killed anyone, their compelled little minds wouldn't know the difference. It was annoying that Alaric, who was supposed to be his friend, had spilled the beans though, because he wouldn't put it passed _Mayor_ Lockwood to start spiking the town's water supply with vervain.

"I. Eat. People." He enunciated carefully, dropping her to the ground when she began to turn a little blue around the lips. "Stay out of my way."

* * *

><p>So he couldn't really say he was surprised when he was attacked later by the old Wickery Bridge. Though the fact that it was Tyler Lockwood doing the attacking did have his mind reeling for a moment, because hadn't the puppy left town?<p>

"What the fu-" He managed to get out before he was bodily tackled to the ground and hey wouldn't you know it, the boy was strong enough to keep him down now that he was a hybrid.

Fuck.

"You should know better than to attack my family Salvatore!" And Damon can't help but laugh because one, what is this some kind of mafia film from the forties? And two, the little douche bag's so cocky now that he's a hybrid and can play with the big boys.

"You're a mama's boy aren't you?" He sneered, unable to help himself before pushing up with both arms and throwing the hybrid off him, which by the way, he noted unfortunately, actually took a fair use of this strength.

Damn Klaus and his stupid hybrid obsession, always making his life harder. "We had words, she saw things my way. Let's move on." He turned around to walk away and realised a little too late that turning his back on the teenager probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

The sickening sound of cracking bones had him whirling around just in time to catch a mass of snarling fur barrelling into him, just in time to scream out as the mutt latched it's teeth around his arm.

He snarled, flinging his body forward to try and throw the stupid animal off, mind racing. He'd just been bitten by Tyler fucking Lockwood _again_. Sure the dick was a vampire now as well but that didn't make him any less wolf.

"Fuck," he hissed, struggling furiously to try and throw the bastard off him, finally getting enough leverage to bring a knee up forcefully into it's stomach. With only a slight whimper, Lockwood fell to the side before racing away through the trees, never reverting back to his human form.

Damon merely stared from his position on the forest floor from his sluggishly bleeding arm, to the woods and back again. "Fuck." He muttered staring dumbly at the wound before screaming again, this time in rage.

What the hell was he going to do now, because Klaus sure as hell wouldn't give him his blood this time, not after what he'd done to his mother. Even if Klaus hadn't loved her as much as the rest of them – had taken her betrayal harder than the rest of them – the other members of his family would not be forgiving and they wouldn't certainly prevent him from offering up the cure to Damon.

"Well shit," he muttered, pulling himself to his feet.

He couldn't say what brought him to the Bennett witch's door, only that maybe some small part of him was hoping that she'd magically discovered a cure between last time and now, he knew the answer would be negative though.

"Stefan called me," is what she says upon opening the door. "He's looking for you."

"What did you say?" He asked nonchalantly as he sidled passed her and into the house, not waiting for an invitation.

"That I hadn't seen you," she shrugged. "I wasn't sure if he was involved in the shit you had going on."

He frowns a little, not used to hearing her curse. "You've got 'shit going on ' too, witchy," he sends back, clearly letting her know he's aware that something's up on her end.

"I'm not bleeding," she shrugs, making a grab for his arm which he barely manages to pull out of her reach. He doesn't know if it's because it's the second time he's been affected by the virus but it stings already and he's getting hungry.

"It's nothing." He shrugs, "got into a fight, you know me." He tries to grin ruefully and wonders why he even came here in the first place. He knows in the back of his mind it's because he doesn't want to go home. Won't step foot inside his house because _they_ will all be there.

"If it were nothing it would have healed itself up right away," she raised an eyebrow holding out a hand and he relents, holding out his forearm for her to see, not really understanding why he does.

"Oh crap Damon," she blinks, looking back up at him, "that's a werewolf bite."

"Thank you captain obvious!" He glares, shrugging his arm back out of her grip.

"Why didn't you go straight home?" She glares, stating the obvious. "Stefan and Klaus are all 'buddy buddy' now right? Go cure yourself!"

It's his turn to raise a brow then, his tone contemplative. "You seem to know a lot for someone that hasn't been around much."

"I keep up to date," she smirks, before pushing him in the direction of the door. "Go!" She shoos, "It's already spreading up to your shoulder!"

He looks down, noting the off grey colour through the small rips in his jacket (his favourite leather jacket!) and the sight of the bite oozing with puss on his arm.

"He's not going to help me." Damon shrugs, reminding her with a look of what exactly the two of them had done the night before.

"If you don't go back," Bonnie threatened, "I'll tell Stefan and he'll drag you back." When Damon scoffed at that she shook a finger in his face, "You'll be in no position to fight him by then and you know it."

Yeah he kind of did know it. He could feel his strength draining little by little and his eyes kept floating back to the flickering pulse in her throat.

"Go!" She glared, urging him forward with another shove.

"Alright!" He growled, "pushy, pushy!"

Why did he even come? He should have known that she would just make him try for the cure from Klaus. For some reason she seemed to care whether he lived or died today – now of all times.

He sulked as he walked home, feeling the chill of unusually cool wind for this time of year breaking through the holes in his leather jacket. The fact that the cold was bothering him was also another bad sign that the bite was progressing quicker than last time.

His senses had dulled a little too, only his sight and hearing. He was still holding onto his vampiric strength but he couldn't hear the occupants inside of the boarding house as he approached which bothered him to no end.

He'd barely stepped foot inside the house when he was greeted with the newest addition to their happy vampire family flying at him in rage like a screeching banshee.

She clawed at his face and he groaned, staggering back into the wall. He knew he'd brought it all on himself but seriously, what was with people and attacking him today? The bite on his arm was throbbing and he was seriously struggling to push her off. He could see Stefan moving from the kitchen into the hallway but before his brother could reach him Damon had finally found the strength to throw the new vampire off, slamming her into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.

He snarled as she moved to attack him again but stopped when the rest of her family made an appearance. Damon snorted, looking directly at Elijah as he said his next words. "Get the fuck out of my house. All of you."

And with that he swept passed them all and up the stairs, slower than he would have liked.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Tralalala I have no idea where this is going...

Sorry to anyone I missed in my last review replies, and to anons, you are appreciated :)


	9. Forest Fire

_I'm not dead?  
><em>

**Disclaimer:** You could read it with your eyes closed.

**Warnings:** Language?

* * *

><p><em>Forest Fire<br>_

* * *

><p>"Damon!" He almost stopped, his feet faltering in the hallway at the sound of the original's voice but somehow managed to keep on walking, refusing to turn around. "Damon." It was less of a question that time and more of an order but Damon certainly wasn't going to bow to his every whim.<p>

"I told you to get the fuck out Elijah," he called over his shoulder, moving into his room and inwardly cursing his inability to slam the door shut behind him.

Ignoring the original's near-silent huff he went straight into his en-suite, stripping off his shirt only after hearing the bedroom door creak shut from the other room. He groaned as the fabric pulled off his wound, hissing at the sight of the dirt mixed with blood.

He pushed at the bite, moaning as puss spilled out and moved to lean heavily against the sink, turning the tap on to rinse out the dirt and splinters that had made their way into the wound form the forest floor.

He was startled when he looked up to meet deep brown eyes in the mirror, studying him carefully. "I thought I told you-"

"When were you bitten by a werewolf?" He was cut off by the original's alarmed tone and rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing Elijah, happens all the time, now if you could leave…" He trailed off, waving his good arm in the direction of the door.

"Why haven't you asked Klaus for his blood yet?"

Damon growled, were they even living on the same planet? Why such stupid questions Elijah? "Gee, I don't know, maybe because I just killed his mother," he muttered sarcastically, slamming his hand down on the tap and stalking from the bathroom.

"Klaus will not bear any ill will toward you. Mother wasn't his favourite person in any case."

Always the sensible one Elijah.

"Who was it?" The older vampire had crept up on him to take his arm, studying the wound carefully. "And when? It's quite accelerated, it must be at least a day old."

Damon resisted the urge to tug his arm from the original's grip, knowing he would be unsuccessful and only cause himself more pain. "Tyler Lockwood." He grated out. "I may have had an…altercation with his mother."

Elijah eyed him disapprovingly and Damon glared right back. Carol had it coming, so did Alaric for that matter when he got his hands on him. Not that he was going to seriously injure the history teacher, he _was_ supposed to be his friend after all, but he did deserve a good right hook for what he did.

"That would explain the severity then I suppose, though I'd assume being a hybrid makes a difference." He was more talking to himself it seemed than Damon and the vampire took the opportunity to pull his arm from the distracted original's grasp.

"Yeah…well..."

Sensing his unease Elijah began hesitantly, "I…apologise for my actions. While I do not agree with what you've done…You had good intentions." He seemed to struggle with the last part especially and Damon frowned.

Of course he expected him to still be angry, he certainly wasn't expecting an apology at all so really he was quite ahead but…it still seemed like no one could see anything he did as anything but selfish and…wrong. It was like he was some sort of evil overlord and they all tried to see the 'good' in him to make themselves feel better, making him feel like shit in the process.

"You have every right to be angry Elijah," he snorted. "Let's just say it like it is, I killed your mother." He threw his arms up. "No matter how nicely you phrase it or how little options there were – I still did it." It was just like Elena said, no matter how many times he could prove himself, he'd always do something to screw it up.

"Damon…"

"No. It was selfish." He admitted, biting his lip. "But I'm not sorry, I can't be." He looked up at the brunette, "and neither are you, so let's just leave it at that."

He turned to collapse gingerly back on the bed, shuffling backwards until he hit the headboard, content to sit alone in silence and fight the bloodlust that was rising. When it got to be too much he'd stake himself, lest he go on a murderous rampage in his temporary insanity and bring the council down on his brother.

He creaked open one eye to find Elijah still in the same spot, staring at him blankly. "I'll go and get Klaus," He stated, finally moving towards the door.

"No!" He heard himself yell, stopping the original in his tracks. "No." He repeated softer. "Just let it be."

"What?" Elijah asked sharply, turning to face him again.

"Just leave it. I don't want it."

"Without it you'll die."

"I'm well aware of that, thanks." He glared as the original approached him once again, angry now. "I'm tired Elijah. I'm so, _so tired_." He tried to make the older vampire understand. He could feel the deliriousness he saw in Rose coming on fast now, he felt a little…high. Loose-lipped.

"I don't want this anymore Elijah," he mumbled, feeling the original creep closer.

"Why? What is so bad that you would let yourself die over it Damon?" He asked quietly. "You said yourself that you're not sorry for your actions. You don't dislike vampirism. Why would you let a werewolf bite get the better of you when the cure is within reach?"

His mouth opened then and a million things came spilling out at once. He could hear himself talking but his brain to mouth filter had officially checked out. "Have you ever wanted something Elijah? Wanted something so badly that you'd kill to have it?" He continued mindlessly, eyes flickering behind shut lids. "And then you'd done something, so terrible that it had ruined every chance you ever had of having it? Of being happy?" He groaned, his fangs burning through his gums. "Imagine that," he gasped, "over and over and over again, tens maybe hundreds of times…and there you have my life."

"Damon…"

"And then there'll be one thing, one thing that you wanted more than all the others, and that's just it. It's just…it. Game over."

"Damon…"

"You know," he babbled, feeling his fangs cut through his lower lip and tasting his own blood as it spilled into his mouth, only fuelling his bloodlust. "Last time I nearly died, Elena kissed me. Will you kiss me Elijah?"

Elijah moved, hovering closer to him and it was only then he noticed the older vampire's hand in his hair. "Damon," he breathed out, an inch away from his lips. "Either you drink Klaus' blood…or I will hold you down and force it down your throat."

And with that the original stormed from the room, presumably to find his half-brother, slamming the door behind him.

Damon groaned.

It felt like Elijah was only gone for a second before his fangs burst through his gums and he barrelled downstairs in search of a blood bag. He threw open the fridge and moaned as his sharp teeth cut through the plastic and the cold, disgusting blood ran into his mouth. He drained the bag in seconds, wasting more than a quarter of it down his shirt.

He easily tore through another and then another again, reaching for the last blood bag when he was pulled back suddenly from his position on the floor, blood dripping from his chin as he snarled, looking up to see Elijah had snatched the blood bag from his fingers easily.

"Damon!" His brother was suddenly next to him, holding him up and pulling him close. "What the hell were you thinking?" Stefan scolded. "You should have told me!" He dragged him over to where Klaus was standing silently in the doorway, clearly restraining himself from telling him off worse in present company.

"Do you ever think?" His little brother muttered and Damon couldn't help but let out a half-hearted chuckle in a small moment of sanity. All he ever did was think these days.

"You have no idea," he murmured, reaching back to try and snatch the last blood bag from Elijah's grip only to have his hand slapped away.

"Damon…" The original warned and the oldest Salvatore scowled, blue eyes flittering back to his brother.

"You are a right mess mate," Klaus finally spoke from the doorway, shaking his head in amusement. Typical.

"I didn't ask for your help," He glared at the hybrid, pushing Stefan's arm from his back.

"No," the blonde shrugged, "but they did," he motioned.

Damon scowled, watching as he slid his fangs across his wrist, spilling the bite-curing hybrid blood over pale skin and down onto the floor. The wound began to close and Klaus raised an intrigued eyebrow. Suddenly, Damon received a sharp shove and went tumbling towards him, only just managing to catch himself and stay on his feet.

He turned to meet Elijah's sharp eyes and a pointed look and sighed, reaching for Klaus' wrist. A part of him was telling him to stop. To just stop right now and have all this be over with because after all, wasn't a hundred and fifty years enough? Wasn't that enough to give? When could he just stop trying?

But he couldn't.

Not with his little brother's eyes on him, watching him. Not with Stefan staring at him wondering why it was taking so long and for a second he felt grateful that Elijah hadn't mentioned anything, that he hadn't told Stefan that for a minute there Damon didn't want to be saved.

Sighing, he pulled Klaus' wrist to his mouth and sunk in his fangs, dragging the life-giving liquid from his vein. The hybrid grunted at the lack of care with which he'd bitten, pushing him away after a few seconds but refrained from commenting nonetheless.

He looked up slowly. He couldn't bring himself to say thank you for something he didn't want in the first place and especially not to Klaus, but luckily enough for him, he didn't have to.

Stefan was saying it for him, moving forward to grasp Klaus' arm as he did, giving him a solid look of appreciation.

"Thank you, brother." Elijah followed up with and then every eye was on Damon, waiting for him to do the same.

He bit his tongue harshly and moved silently around Klaus, slipping out the door and into the darkness. He only made it a few steps from the house before he stopped, crossing his arms and staring silently out into the woods, lost in thought.

It had been a slow burn, his dissatisfaction with life – at least when he thought Katherine had been dead, he had something to focus on and he let it consume him. When she betrayed him it was anger that took over, a rage bubbling just beneath his skin for all to see. There had been Elena after that, that one had hurt, but he didn't let any of it show, he'd _thought_ it wasn't bothering him. But then came Elijah.

He was just the final thing in a long line of events. The last drop of water before the dam overflowed.

"I trust you're not going to go running off to find another werewolf?"

He sighed, turning to face the older vampire. "Can you just…not?" He was too tired for any of this, he was just…over it. He didn't need to hear half-hearted words from the vampire who was pretending not to be angry with him, pretending he didn't hate him.

"Not do this?" The brunette mused, stalking closer. "And here I was thinking you'd asked for it."

His brow furrowed. "Asked for what?" And then Elijah's lips were on his hard and fast, pulling him back toward the house and his brain just stopped working. One touch and everything disappeared as the world fell out from under him.

He could tell himself that this didn't change anything. That he still wanted what he wanted and there was nothing anyone could do to change his mind. But Elijah was _kissing_ him – and that changed everything.

He could throw around words like 'nothing' and 'insignificant' all he liked, but he wasn't. He wasn't a small flicker, a tiny flame or spark. Elijah was a forest fire, consuming everything in it's path and Damon – Damon was all too happy to be devoured.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** *Stares out hesitantly*


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